26 Oct 2019; MEMO: A Saudi newspaper revealed on Friday that the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is allegedly affiliated with the kingdom, will resign within the next 48 hours.
Okaz reported unnamed sources claiming that Hariri will form a new 14-minister mini-government, which will not include any of the ministers of the current government.
“The new government to be formed will not include Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, nor Interior Minister, Raya El Hassan, but will be limited to technocratic ministers, who would be capable of restoring internal and external trust,” reported the newspaper.
Okaz added that its sources confirmed that “all parties have agreed to this change, provided that citizens are allowed to demonstrate in the squares after the resignation of the government, while insuring the opening of all roads, especially the main ones.”
Hariri’s family, and the Future Movement it leads, are affiliated with Saudi Arabia; Hariri possesses Saudi nationality, as well as Lebanese.
For the ninth consecutive day, several cities in Lebanon have been witnessing protests and sit-ins against the government’s intention to impose new taxes, including a tax increase on added value (of goods), particularly the imposition of 20 cents a day (equivalent to $6 per user per month) on WhatsApp calls and other smartphone apps. The government later retracted the imposition of the new taxes, and the protests then evolved to denounce widespread corruption, calling for the overthrow of the current sectarian regime and the holding of early parliamentary elections.
These popular protests have paralysed the country, by continuing to shut down banks, schools and universities, while cutting off the country’s main roads.
On 21 October, Hariri’s government approved a set of reform measures to appease protesters, including cutting the salaries of current and former deputies and ministers by 50 per cent, and imposing additional taxes on bank profits, in response to anti-government protests. The public has, nevertheless, rejected these measures.
Lebanese president Michel Aoun’s speech on Thursday sparked more anger in the streets and squares of Lebanon, due to its poor quality, which was considering to be “recorded and very badly produced.”
Aoun did not propose initiatives, nor did he offer concessions or solutions to the status quo, under the pretext of his limited presidential powers.
