Lebanon’s Saad Hariri returns to power a year after protests
Hariri received a parliamentary mandate to form his fourth government, but his return is unpopular with tens of thousands of Lebanese
Beirut — Lebanon’s Saad Hariri returned as prime minister on Thursday a year after stepping down in the face of nationwide protests, his promise to implement a French plan to salvage the collapsing economy complicated by his failure to secure broad support.
Hariri received 65 parliamentary votes out of 118, giving him the mandate to form his fourth government after Lebanon’s political establishment failed to agree on a strong alternative to lead the country out of its deepest economic and political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. But his record, and failure to win the backing of the two main Christian parties, will hinder his mission, and his return is unpopular with tens of thousands of Lebanese who filled the streets in 2019 demanding the removal of a political class they blame for the country’s ills...
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