Diab Promises Technocrats, but Leaves Lebanese Protesters Unimpressed

Hassan Diab, who has been asked to form Lebanon’s next government, insists his choice for cabinet ministers will mostly be non-political technocrats who can work toward solving the myriad problems that have led the country into paralysis. “I ask [protesters] to give us an opportunity to establish an exceptional government,” he said on Friday, as demonstrators continued to hold rallies and block key intersections over severe foreign debt, a dearth of public services and widespread corruption. Diab was asked to form a government by President Michel Aoun on Thursday after caretaker prime minister Saad al-Hariri said he would not reverse a late-October decision to resign in light of the burgeoning unrest. Many protesters say they see no difference in Diab, an academic and onetime education minister, who is viewed as part of a ruling elite that the demonstrators would like to see replaced with fresh faces and people unencumbered by age-old sectarian baggage.