Premier-designate Saad Hariri abandoned his effort to form a new government on Thursday, plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis.
"It is clear we will not be able to agree with his Excellency the president," Hariri told reporters after meeting with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace for barely 20 minutes. "That is why I excuse myself from government formation."
Lebanon is suffering an economic depression the World Bank has described as one of the most severe in modern history. Its currency has lost more than 90% of its value in less than two years, leading to spiraling poverty and crippling shortages.
With no obvious alternative for the post, there is little hope of a government that can start fixing the economic situation.
The country’s economic troubles have been made worse by the political bickering.
Hariri said Aoun had requested fundamental changes to a cabinet line-up he had presented to him on Wednesday. Aoun had told Hariri that they would not be able to agree, Hariri said.
After Hariri's announcement on Thursday, Aoun said that Hariri was not ready to discuss any changes to the government proposal he submitted a day earlier.
Hariri proposed that Aoun take one more day to accept the suggested proposal but Aoun said, "what is the use of one additional day if the door to discussions was closed," a statement by the presidency said.
The president will set a date for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible after Hariri gave up on cabinet formation, the statement said.
Hariri was designated to form the new government in October, after the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Diab in the aftermath of the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion. Diab continues in a caretaker capacity.
Immediately after news broke of Hariri’s stepping down, the Lebanese pound hit a new low, selling for 20,000 to the dollar on the black market.
