Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced that he will be resigning from his post on Tuesday after nearly two weeks of nationwide protests.
The resignation of Saad Hariri as PM of Lebanon is one of the demands of the protesters. Hariri as served as prime minister for three terms and for less than two years, he has led a a national unity government, which included some of his political rivals.
In recent months, Lebanon has been plagued with various issues, including the rapid decline of the economy, ballooning debt and increasing prices. The nationwide protests were sparked by a government proposal announced on October 17 to impose a tax on Whatsapp calls, along with other austerity measures.
Since the protests started, the country has been under lockdown, with banks and schools having been closed for 12 days and major routes blocked by demonstrators.
In his resignation speech, Hariri said: "I can't hide this from you. I have reached a dead-end. To all my political peers, our responsibility today is how to protect Lebanon and to uplift the economy. Today, there is a serious opportunity and we should not waste it."
Hariri's announcement was cheered on by numerous protesters in downtown Beirut. At the peak of the protests, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to criticize the corruption in the Lebanese government.
However, the prime minister's resignation has also been seen as a precursor to more unrest and economic crisis.
Karim Makdisi, associate professor of international politics at the American University of Beirut, pointed out: "There's a lot of unknowns. We've moved from a phase of celebration where people were coming together and showing solidarity in one where we don't know whats going to happen. "There's a lot of unknowns. We've moved from a phase of celebration where people were coming together and showing solidarity in one where we don't know whats going to happen
