Lebanon’s Hezbollah Says New Cabinet Should Listen to Protesters

(Bloomberg) -- Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief said any government formed in the aftermath of two weeks of nationwide protests should listen carefully to the demands of the people and seek to win their confidence.

In a televised speech, Hassan Nasrallah said he had opposed the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri because he was concerned the economy couldn’t cope with an extended power vacuum. Though he stopped short of backing the creation of a government of experts, as demanded by protesters, Nasrallah said whatever cabinet is formed should work fast and avoid the delays that had plagued previous lineups.

“We ask the new government from now to listen carefully to the demands of the people who took to the streets,” he said. “The main goal and priority of the new government should be restoring confidence” between the people and the authorities.

Nasrallah’s conciliatory tone came in stark contrast to previous speeches in which he said the uprising that’s engulfed Lebanon was being funded by unspecified foreign embassies and warned that the collapse of the government could lead to chaos and civil war.

Despite pressure from Hezbollah and other parties in the fractious national unity government, Hariri resigned earlier this week. Parliamentary consultations to choose a replacement have yet to begin, raising concerns that Lebanon will be unable to take the steps needed to pull the economy back from crisis.

It has already had to delay plans to issue a Eurobond worth up to $3 billion though the central bank will still repay a debt maturing this month.

Lebanon is struggling to find fresh sources of funding as the foreign inflows on which it has traditionally relied have dried up. Promises of assistance from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Lebanon’s former benefactors, have largely failed to arrive. The government needs to cut spending, raise taxes and fight corruption to unlock some $11 billion in international aid pledges made at a Paris donor conference in 2018, but Hezbollah had opposed measures that would hurt low-income families that form large swaths of its support-base.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lin Noueihed in Beirut at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net;Dana Khraiche in Beirut at dkhraiche@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net

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