Another politician just quit, making him the second to step out on the government in the same week.
Lebanese MP Marwan Hamadeh just resigned from parliament after the devastating explosion that buried Beirut’s portside under the ruble.
Hamadeh announced his resignation during an interview with Al Arabiya. He said he was no longer honored to be part of such a government, which he called “ineffective”, echoing the thoughts of Lebanese citizens.
“I am no longer honored to be a member of institutions that watch the country’s devastation with a total bias that has destroyed it and impoverished it in front of the world,” he said.
He accused the state of having “alienated its brothers [the Arab countries] and the entire world, under a presidency that is ineffective, and a government that is deformed, a government that is only a peg for the parties of the opposition and of the state.”
His statement doesn’t reveal something unknown by the people and the international community observing Lebanon’s free fall this past couple of months.
The people have been feeling it painfully to the bones with all the miseries increasing.
What’s new, however, is that an MP like Hamadeh, who has long been part of the ruling elite, declared it openly. Too bad that it took an apocalyptic explosion for him to take a stand.
Would the other politicians follow suit? It is still to see.
One thing for sure, such a dramatic event like Beirut’s blast would have brought an entire government to resign, in any other democratic country.
MP Hamadeh is not the only official to reach a point of disgust. A day ago, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister resigned also out of frustration with the government. He was quickly replaced within hours.
Lebanon is going nowhere fast, other than in its collapse. Intriguing enough, the ruling officials seem to be the only ones not knowing it (or pretending not to), for nothing can explain their apathy towards Lebanon’s too-strikingly obvious collapse.
Lebanon is agonizing, and they have been long warned, by the people protesting since October 17 of last year and by the international community calling on them to act quickly. At no avail.
And now, Beirut blast, that horror that is still unfurling, with people still missing, and the death toll still climbing, we can only think of criminal irresponsibility involved, whatever the conflicting reports.
Lebanon High Defense Council has assigned an investigative committee to find what led to the disaster and who and what was responsible. The committee has a maximum of five days to report their findings.
