Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, said on Wednesday that it was parliament’s decision whether to re-activate a resigned cabinet, after months of wrangling that has blocked a deal on a new government.
Diab’s cabinet has served in a caretaker capacity since quitting last August over the huge Beirut port blast that killed 200 people and compounded the country’s financial collapse.
In his statement on Wednesday, Diab said the political deadlock spurred calls to activate his cabinet but that the question of whether the constitution allows it was up to the parliament.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday a new cabinet was needed to pull Lebanon out of financial crisis, after a standoff over government formation between its president Michel Aoun and prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri worsened.
The crisis is posing the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the 1975-1990 civil war, and a new cabinet could help initiate reforms to unlock foreign aid.
“Government formation is the only alternative to the chaos that threatens everyone,” Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc said in a statement, calling for transparency and cooperation between Lebanon’s leaders.
The row between Hariri and Aoun intensified after a meeting between the two to discuss a new cabinet ended in a public repudiation.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group is an ally of Aoun.
