Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

Lebanon's prime minister-designate steps down in blow to French plan

Lebanon's prime minister-designate steps down in blow to French plan

The move deals a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break a political stalemate in the crisis-hit country.

Lebanon's prime minister-designate Moustapha Adib abruptly resigned on Saturday, amid a political impasse over government formation.

The move also deals a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break a stalemate in the crisis-hit country.

The announcement by Adib just under a month after he was appointed to the job under a confessional political system, further delays the prospect of getting the foreign economic assistance needed to rescue the Middle Eastern country from the brink of collapse.

Adib told reporters he was stepping down after it became clear that the kind of cabinet he wished to form was "bound to fail."

Meanwhile, Macron has been pressing Lebanese politicians to form a cabinet made up of non-partisan specialists that can work on enacting urgent reforms to extract Lebanon from a devastating economic crisis worsened by the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port.

Commenting on Adib's resignation, an official in the French leader's office described it as "a collective betrayal" by Lebanon's political parties.

Lebanon is in desperate need of financial aid but France, the United States and other international powers have refused to provide funds before serious political reforms are made.


The crisis is largely blamed on decades of systematic corruption and mismanagement by Lebanon's ruling class.

But efforts by the French-supported Adib have hit multiple snags, after the country's main Shiite groups, Hezbollah and Amal, insisted on retaining hold of the key Finance Ministry.

After a short meeting with Lebanese President Aoun on Saturday, Adib said he was stepping down after his efforts hit a dead end.

"I have apologized about continuing the mission of forming a government after it became clear that a cabinet according to the characteristics I had set for it would be bound to fail," he told reporters.

The Lebanese pound dropped against the dollar following his resignation.

Lebanon, a former French protectorate, is mired in the country's worst economic crisis in its modern history. The crisis has been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and more recently by the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut's port caused by the detonation of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate.


The devastating blast killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands and caused property damage and losses worth billions of dollars.

Adib's resignation comes a few days after Aoun himself bluntly told reporters that Lebanon would be going to "hell" if a new government was not formed soon.

In a televised address, he criticized his political allies, the Shiite groups Hezbollah and Amal, for insisting on holding on to the Finance Ministry portfolio in any new government, but also criticized Adib for attempting to form a government and impose names for cabinet positions without consulting with the parliamentary blocs.

Adib, who was an ambassador to Germany before he took the job on Aug. 31, emerged as a candidate for the post of prime minister after he won the support of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and three other ex-premiers.

According to Lebanon's sectarian-based power sharing system, the prime minister has to be a Sunni Muslim.

French President Macron has described his initiative including a road map and a timetable for reforms, as "the last chance for this system."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×