Lebanon May Face Chaos, President Says

Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Wednesday warned things could get worse before they get better for Lebanon’s crumbling economy and its people. “I will hand over the country better than when it was handed to me,” Aoun, whose term ends next year, told local television. “But I fear the cost will be very high. There may be chaos before that.” The struggling state has been battling a historic financial meltdown, compounded by its ongoing political crisis with no functioning government for months. The past year’s global pandemic, coupled with the enormous explosion in August in Beirut Port, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people and rendered thousands homeless, have only made matters worse. Aoun and Saad Hariri, Lebanon’s former prime minister and the man tabbed in October to head a new government, have been at odds for months over the cabinet’s makeup, preventing the passage of much-needed reforms.