Question Period Note: Political Crisis in Lebanon

Lebanon has been without a government since August 10, 2020, and government formation efforts have been at a standstill for five months, despite the rapidly deteriorating social/economic conditions.

• Canada is disappointed by the repeated failures of Lebanon's political leaders to form a government that can implement the fundamental domestic reforms that Lebanon requires.
• Canada continues to call on Lebanon's leaders to form a new government without delay to implement the reforms necessary to lift the country out of the current crisis, and respond to the aspirations of the Lebanese people, including the most vulnerable.

• Canada is gravely concerned by the deteriorating conditions for the majority of the Lebanese people and the failure of their leaders to respond to this crisis.

• Canada will continue to provide humanitarian assistance for the Lebanese people but will not provide additional financial assistance for the Government of Lebanon until an effective administration committed to fundamental reforms is in place.

PM Hassan Diab and his government resigned on August 10, 2020, in the wake of the explosion at the Port of Beirut, and remain in a caretaker capacity while the process of forming a new government remains at a standstill. Lebanon's political leaders have shown no willingness to form a government that could enact urgent reforms needed to stem the crisis in the country.

On September 26, PM-designate Mustapha Adib resigned after exhausting efforts to present a Cabinet agreeable to the Shia parties - Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. On October 22, former PM Saad Hariri was appointed PM-designate after securing a narrow majority in Parliament, but vested sectarian interests have continued to prevent any consensus on government formation.

On March 6, caretaker PM Diab threatened to stop performing his duties in order to pressure politicians to form a new government. On March 22, Hariri met with President Michel Aoun to discuss a potential Cabinet. Hariri has said that he proposed a Cabinet of 18 technocratic ministers, which Aoun has demanded a 20-member Cabinet based on sectarian representation, and with veto power for Aoun's allies. Each is blaming the other for the standstill in government formation.

This is occurring while Lebanon is in the midst of a crisis that has resulted from decades of misgovernment and widespread corruption. Approximately half of the population now lives in poverty, the economy is collapsing, unemployment has reached 50 percent, the public debt burden is 170 percent of GDP, and the currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value. This crisis has been worsened by the devastation caused by the explosion at the Port of Beirut on August 4, and by the severe COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In recent weeks, protestors have again blocked roads and demonstrated against the government as inflation has continued to rise. The longer the country is without a government, the deeper the crisis will become, and the harder it will be to resolve.

Canada continues to follow the situation closely, and alongside like-minded allies continues to press Lebanon's leaders to form a government that can move forward on urgently-needed reforms.

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