Lebanese prime minister-designate steps down amid impasse

26/9/2020 18:52

        Lebanon's prime minister-designate resigned Saturday amid a political impasse over government formation, dealing a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron's efforts to break a dangerous stalemate in the crisis-hit country.
        
        The announcement by Moustapha Adib nearly a month after he was appointed to the job throws the small country deeper into political uncertainty. He told reporters he was stepping down after it became clear that the kind of Cabinet he wished to form was "bound to fail.”
        
        The French leader 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 and financial crisis worsened by the Aug. 4 explosion at Beirut port.