BEIRUT, 21 October 2004 — Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri resigned yesterday and vowed he would not be heading the next government, bringing to a head a political crisis that has paralyzed the country for weeks.
“I have ... submitted the resignation of the government, and I have declared that I will not be a candidate to head the (next) government,” he said in a statement, blaming internal political differences for his decision.
Hariri, 59, a Sunni Muslim who has been prime minister for most of the past 12 years, first announced early last month that he planned to resign amid a political and diplomatic crisis over Syria’s influence in Lebanese affairs.
The departure of the business tycoon, long regarded as a canny political player with close ties to Western leaders and financial creditors, also cast a cloud over the economic health of the country, which is $32 billion in debt. A presidential statement said Hariri submitted his resignation to President Emile Lahoud, his main political rival.
“Hariri submitted his resignation which was accepted by President Lahoud ... who asked the current government to stay on as caretaker Cabinet,” it said.
Lahoud, whose mandate was controversially extended by three years under a Syrian-inspired constitutional amendment last month, will start compulsory parliamentary consultations today to name a new premier, officials said.
A second presidential statement listed appointments for about four hours of consultations, including a private audience with former Prime Minister Omar Karameh, who is among a handful of Sunni figures thought to be possible replacements for Hariri.
Observers fear that a threatened boycott of the consultations by a number of MPs will give Lahoud a free hand to appoint a pro-Syrian figure as prime minister.
Most of the 29 MPs in the 128-member Parliament who voted against extending Lahoud’s term have previously declared that they would not participate in consultations to choose a new government.
They include the blocs of prominent Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and the Christian gathering of Qornet Shehwan, which have been calling for an end to Syrian interference.
The recent crisis was further aggravated with the resignation of four Cabinet members over the extension of Lahoud’s term, including a close Jumblatt aide who was injured in a failed assassination bid on Oct. 1.
After a meeting of his 18-member bloc yesterday, Jumblatt said “the Democratic Gathering ... can only be in harmony with itself and refrain from taking part in the staged parliamentary consultations.”
