AGENCIES / BEIRUT
After nearly two weeks of daily mass protests against corruption and a collapsing economy, Saad Hariri resigned as prime minister of Lebanon on Tuesday.
“I tried throughout this period to find a way to listen to the people’s voices and protect the country from security, economic and livelihood risks,” Hariri said in a live televised speech. “Today, I have reached a dead end.”
The prime minister submitted his resignation and that of his government in a letter handed to President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace. It was not clear if the president had formally accepted the resignation, but sources told Arab News that Hariri was determined to quit.
Protesters throughout Lebanon, who have demanded the removal of the government, erupted in cheers at the news, chanting and singing the national anthem.
One activist in Riad Al-Solh Square in Beirut said opinions were divided “between withdrawal from the streets and the use of other means to achieve our demands on corruption … or standing our ground to finish what we started.”
Outside Beirut, thousands also took to the streets of northern Tripoli, a former stronghold of Hariri’s Future Movement, to celebrate the news. Hundreds of others were out in towns and villages across the country, including in Jal al-Dib, Zouk Mosbeh and Jbeil north of Beirut, and Nabatieh and Tyre south of the capital.