Lebanese President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation of the government on August 10 and charged outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab with the management of current affairs.
The move follows public outrage over last week’s devastating explosion in the port of the capital Beirut.
The Director General of the Presidency, Antoine Choucair, told a press conference that President Aoun thanked Prime Minister Diab and the ministers of his government and “asked them to continue in office until the formation of the new government “.
Health Minister Hamad Hassan told reporters that all members of the Lebanese cabinet have tendered their resignations to the prime minister to pass them on to the president. Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm and Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni left the government earlier today, while Information Minister Manal Abdel-Samad and Environment Minister Damianos Kattar had as to them resigned on August 9.
Six MPs also resigned from the 128-member parliament in protest against the devastating explosion that killed at least 163 people and injured 6,000 others, while nearly 300,000 were left homeless.
Communications Minister Talal Hawat, and Ghada Chreim, Minister for Displaced Persons, said at the meeting that the government’s resignation had become “inevitable”.
A powerful explosion rocked the port of Beirut on August 4, after a neglected stock of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in a warehouse caught fire.
Ammonium nitrate is a chemical substance which is used in particular to make bombs, but which is especially commonly used in the manufacture of fertilizers.
Terrorism was ruled out as the probable cause of the explosion.
The explosion, which rocked central Beirut, destroying buildings miles away, came at a time when Lebanon was already facing a severe financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.
Protesters have taken to the streets for the past two days, staging violent anti-government protests and storming government buildings across the country, leading to clashes with law enforcement.
Source Anadolu Agency