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Shift from Berlin to Beirut: Lebanon’s former ambassador to Germany will become his country’s new prime minister. The main blocs in parliament agreed to 48-year-old Mustafa Adib as prime minister.
A spokesman for the presidential palace announced that the head of state Michel Aoun had entrusted Adib with the formation of a government. The previous government resigned four weeks ago after the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut.
Adib has been an ambassador to Berlin since 2013. The lawyer and political scientist with a doctorate in law is relatively unknown to the Lebanese public. So far he has not held any high-level political office.
Former Prime Minister Hassan Diab had announced the resignation of the government after the explosion in Beirut, which left more than 180 dead and more than 6,000 injured. Lebanon’s highest state offices are distributed among the largest denominations according to a decade-long proportional representation system. The president must always be a Christian, the prime minister a Sunni and the head of parliament a Shiite.
For Lebanon, it is the second change of government in less than a year. Diab only took over as prime minister in the spring after his predecessor, Saad al-Hariri, announced his resignation after massive protests last October. Hariri, who heads Lebanon’s largest Sunni party, recently came out in favor of Ambassador Adib as the new prime minister. The powerful Shiite Hezbollah party also backed the nomination.
Macron is said to have pushed for a quick government formation
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Monday night. According to the Reuters news agency, Lebanese government circles said Macron had urged Beirut leaders to quickly agree on a new prime minister.
The Mediterranean country has long suffered a serious economic crisis. Demonstrators in the mass protests are calling for fundamental political reforms. Among other things, he accuses the country’s political elite of corruption and self-enrichment.
