In Lebanon, the political withdrawal of Saad Hariri or the end of a family dynasty

A political leader who withdraws on an acknowledgment of failure and henceforth renounces to seek any responsibility, it is a very rare event in Lebanon, in this country plagued by sectarianism and where political leaders make it a priority to preserve their advantages.

Yet this is what happened on the evening of Monday, January 24. On the verge of tears, Saad Hariri made a brief speech in front of his relatives and some journalists to announce his decision.

Not only does he personally withdraw from political life, but he also invites his party, the Current of the Future, to do the same thing, and not to present any candidate during the legislative elections scheduled for mid-May. A twist because the Sunnis, a third of the Lebanese population, lost one of their standard bearers.

Hariri puts forward a whole host of reasons to justify his decision: the excessive Iranian interference in the country (via Hezbollah), and also sectarianism and the disintegration of the state. A thinly veiled attack on the functioning of the entire Lebanese political class. Saad Hariri is careful, however, not to criticize Saudi Arabia, which was for a long time his main support.

It is an event because Saad Hariri is a major political figure in the country. He is only 51 years old but has already been three times prime minister. Propelled into politics from the age of 34 after the assassination in 2005 of his father Rafic, also Prime Minister (Rafic Hariri was also very close to Jacques Chirac).

Initially, the young Saad was not destined to succeed his father, since he had studied business, an MBA in the United States, before taking the helm of the large family business, Saudi Oger, with the double blessing from France and Saudi Arabia. But when his father died, he was catapulted into politics, preferred by the Saudis to his older brother.

Saad Hariri has long appeared as a man of compromise, always affable. But from 2017, he was abandoned by his Saudi supporters who even summoned him to Riyadh where he suffered ill-treatment. It is also the embodiment of a family become very rich, multi-billionaire, long symbol of a dazzling social rise, since Rafic Hariri, her father, was him the son of a modest agricultural worker.

This departure also occurs in the midst of an election campaign and in the midst of an economic crisis. The outcome of the elections is unpredictable. If indeed they are held on the scheduled date because they were initially announced in March but have already been postponed to mid-May.

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In the meantime, the economic situation remains catastrophic: prices have increased sevenfold in one year, GDP has shrunk by 150% and the currency has lost 90% of its value against the dollar. Three quarters of the Lebanese have fallen into poverty. The International Monetary Fund is currently negotiating with Lebanese politicians to agree on an emergency aid plan.