Lebanese caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil attends a cabinet meeting in Beirut, Lebanon, May 21, 2019.
Lebanon is on the brink of forming a new government, caretaker finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Thursday. Lebanon has been without a government since Saad al Hariri resigned as prime minister on October 29 in the face of sweeping protests against the country's elite, complicating efforts to mount a recovery from a deep economic crisis.
"Today I think that we have progressed to a very big extent and we can say that we are on the doorstep of forming a new government," said Khalil.Protesters who blame the country's elite for endemic corruption have demanded that any new government be made up of technocrats. Last month Hassan Diab, a little-known former minister, was designated as premier to form a new government after the failure of efforts to forge a deal for the return of Hariri, an ally of the West and Gulf Arab states.Lebanon is hoping to form a new government that can enact swift reforms and convince donor countries to release previously pledged financial support.