MOS Regime change OP underway??

Lebanese PM Calls for Early Elections, Blames Corruption for Beirut Blast Amid Massive Protests

Prime Minister Hassan Diab was appointed to his post in January 2020, succeeding Saad Hariri. Diab’s short time in office has been racked with instability from events mostly out of his control, starting with the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying economic crisis, and culminating in the August 4 explosion in the port of Beirut.

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has called for new parliamentary elections, saying they are the only way to take the country out of its current crisis.

“We cannot get out of this structural crisis without holding early parliamentary elections,” the independent Sunni politician said Saturday in a televised address.

Diab clarified that he would be ready to continue carrying out his duties for the next two months until all of Lebanon’s political parties can agree on how to proceed.

Commenting on the ongoing probe into the August 4 explosion in Beirut, which has claimed the lives of over 150 people, injured over 5,000 and displaced as many as 300,000 others, Diab promised that the investigation will continue to expand until everyone involved is held accountable. “I firmly reiterate that none of those responsible for the Beirut Port tragedy will escape punishment,” he stressed.

Diab added that he considers the port explosion to have been the result of years of “corruption and mismanagement” by his predecessors.

Under Lebanon’s complex political system, which seeks to maintain a balance between Maronite Christians, Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, the prime minister can only be appointed and approved or removed by the president (with that post held by Maronite Christian Michel Aoun) with no consultations required from the country’s parliament. But the prime minister is required to retain the confidence of the majority of parliament.

For new elections to be held, parliament would need to approve them. Dr. Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran-based academic and political analyst, says that if new elections are approved, lawmakers would "also need to approve a new electoral law," meaning elections would actually take place as long as a year from now.

"The opposition would probably lose an election, because they were the dominant force in government for years and bear most of the responsibility for what happened in the port. That is why they have chosen to push for violence on the streets," Marandi said, speaking to Sputnik.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/202008081080104294-lebanese-pm-calls-for-early-elections-blames-corruption-for-beirut-blast-amid-massive-protests/