Lebanese Parliament appoints Mustapha Adib as Prime Minister

Diplomat Mustapha Adib was appointed new Prime Minister of Lebanon by Parliament on Monday, three weeks after Hasan Diab's government resigned en bloc following the explosion in the port of Beirut that shook the country in the midst of one of the worst crises in its history. Adib, Lebanon's ambassador to Germany since 2013, received 90 of the 119 votes cast and was backed by the country's main political blocs. This movement opens a new political period with which the country is trying to heal the wounds of the triple crisis that lies ahead: health, economy and politics. The international leaders have called on the nation to carry out far-reaching reforms in order to receive international aid, which is essential for rebuilding Beirut following the major explosion that devastated the city on 4 August. 

In this vein, the President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, called on the nation on Sunday to declare Lebanon a "secular state" as a solution to the "unprecedented crisis" the country is going through and to abandon sectarianism after the explosion that shook the country on 4 August. "I call for Lebanon to be declared a secular state, for dialogue that includes all the political and religious authorities in order to arrive at a formula acceptable to all", he said in a short speech to the Efe agency in commemoration of the centenary of the creation of Greater Lebanon. 

After being appointed, the new prime minister has the task of forming a new executive, although in the interim the government of Hasan Diab will continue in office despite his resignation en bloc on 10 August. The decision came following the explosion on 4 August in the port of Beirut which killed 190 people, injured over 6,500 and left 300,000 homeless. The new prime minister is faced with the task of saving Lebanon from the many crises it is experiencing with one day to go before the century in which it was established as a state.

In a speech this Sunday, the President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, called for Lebanon to be declared a "secular state" as a solution to the "unprecedented crisis" the country is going through, and thus to abandon sectarianism after the explosion that shook the country on 4 August, as he indicated in a short speech in commemoration of the centenary of the creation of Greater Lebanon published by the Efe agency. 1 September next marks the centenary of the establishment of the state of Great Lebanon, which was proclaimed by France in a division with Britain after the First World War, a step that was welcomed by the Maronite Christians, the community to which Aoun belongs, though not by the Muslims. "September 1, 2020 is a continuation of September 1, 1920. And that is why I believe that a secular state protects and preserves pluralism," he said.
 

Lebanon witnessed a civil war which lasted from 1975 to 1990 and which ended with a power-sharing agreement in the government between the 18 religious communities present in the country. Since then, this division of seats in parliament has made it difficult to form governments and to reach agreements. "The sectarian system based on the rights of the communities and the quotas between them have been valid for a while, but today it has become an obstacle to any development in the country, an obstacle to any reform and the fight against corruption, as well as a generator of conflict and division for everyone who wants to strike at the country," the president said during his appearance.

Lebanon is facing one of its worst crises in history, a situation that has worsened following the explosion on 4 August of nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years without being safeguarded in the port of Beirut, which killed 190 people, injured over 6,500, left some 300,000 homeless and devastated a large part of the Mediterranean capital. Mr Aoun furthermore referred in his address to the "youth of Lebanon who are calling for a change", and stated that "for their sake and for the future" they should be told that their "moment has come", in allusion to the revolution that began in the country on 17 October.