AMN/ WEB DESK
A new government has been announced in Lebanon over a year after the previous administration quit following the devastating Beirut port explosion. Najib Mikati – Lebanon’s richest man – becomes Prime Minister, a position he has held twice before. His appointment, along with the naming of a new cabinet, ends months of political paralysis. It comes as Lebanon grapples with some of the severest domestic crises it has faced in its history.
The value of the currency has collapsed, unemployment and inflation have soared, electricity, fuel and medicines are in short supply and the country has been rocked by nearly two years of protests calling for wholesale political reforms.
Lebanon had been without a proper functioning government since then-Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned days after a massive blast on 4th of August last year destroyed Beirut port and the surrounding area.
The explosion, caused by improperly stored ammonium nitrate, killed 203 people, injured at least 6,000 others and left billions of dollars of damage.