In Lebanon, the sense of optimism that was in the air a year ago is gone

11/12/2020 – by Mona Naggar
In depth
© Marwan Bou Haidar/picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com
An event marking the one-month anniversary of the explosion in Beirut’s port, as a result of which the government was forced to step down.
Approximately one year after stepping down, Saad Al Hariri will once again head Lebanon’s government. Many of the demonstrators who took to the streets to call for reforms in October 2019 consider this a serious setback. Others are clinging to old patterns – and leaders – in response to the country’s grave crisis.
There was an enormous feeling of joy when former Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri stepped down at the end of October 2019. He was responding to the reform demands raised by thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets in a number of Lebanese cities. The resignation of the government and the formation of a transitional government made up of technocrats was supposed to usher in the reform at process. It seemed for a moment as if civil society was strong enough to exert pressure on Lebanon’s political class.

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