Libanon

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced he would not seek the top post again, on the eve of twice-delayed talks to name a new prime minister that were expected to lead to his selection.

Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician, Saad Hariri, has re-emerged as a candidate for prime minister as businessman Samir Khatib withdrew his candidacy to lead a government that must tackle an acute economic crisis.

[…] He said on Tuesday that he hoped his decision would prompt parliamentary blocs to quickly agree a replacement.

The legislative session was supposed to address proposed new laws some protesters say do not address their demands. For more than a month, rallies have been held every day in Lebanon against government corruption and financial crisis. Protesters are calling for jobs, electricity, health care and security, and for the entire political class to step down.

Lebanon's banks and schools were shut on Tuesday in a new wave of disruption as politicians struggled to agree on a new government to steer the country out of its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. The top U.N. official in Lebanon called for the urgent formation of a cabinet made up of people known for their competence, which he said would be in a better position to appeal for international support.

For weeks, Lebanon has been rocked by anti-government protests, the largest the country has seen in more than a decade. The demonstrations have cut across sectarian lines - a rare phenomenon since the country's devastating civil war ended - and involved people from all sectors of society.

Lebanese demonstrators have begun surrounding government institutions in the capital, Beirut, and other cities, as a mass protest movement demanding an overhaul of the country's political system approaches its fourth week.

Lebanon's president has asked the cabinet to continue in a caretaker capacity, a day after PM Saad Hariri resigned in response to mass protests. On Tuesday, Mr Hariri said he had reached a "dead end" and that a "shock" was needed to resolve the crisis.

Since October 17, hundreds of thousands of protesters have mobilized across Lebanon, calling for an end to corruption, sectarianism, and the broken political and economic system. The mass demonstrations, largely branded as “al-thawra,” the Arabic word for revolution, were triggered by plans by the Lebanese government to tax WhatsApp calls.