Beirut, Sept 28 (IANS) Newly-elected Lebanese Prime Minister Mustafa Adib has set out on a mission to rescue Lebanon, which is facing both political and economic setbacks. But the task was several times more difficult than it seemed. As a result, the new prime minister had to step down before taking office. Prime Minister Adib has resigned before taking the oath of office, failing to reach an agreement on who will be in charge of the finance ministry.

In a speech following a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday, Mustafa Adib announced that he was stepping down from forming a new government. The former ambassador to Germany was announced as the new prime minister last August.

A bomb blast near the port of Beirut on August 4 killed at least 190 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed half of the city, putting pressure on the country’s then-government. Allegations of horrific irregularities and corruption against them resurfaced. The government led by Hasan Diab was forced to resign in just six days in the face of the ongoing movement.

But with the fall of the government, the situation in Lebanon will soon change. A few days ago, the Lebanese president himself said that if Mustafa Adib could not form a government, Lebanon would become a kind of hell.

Some evidence of such a crisis is already being seen. The value of the Lebanese currency has fallen by about 70 percent since last October.

In Lebanon’s complex political system, the prime minister will be a Sunni Muslim, the president will be a Maronite Christian, and the speaker of parliament will be Shia Muslims.

After the nomination of the new Prime Minister, Mustafa Adib announced to break this complicated practice and form a non-partisan government. He wanted to form a cabinet with independently qualified people to rebuild the country.

But there are serious complications with who will be given the responsibility of the finance minister. The Shiite group Hezbollah and Amal wanted to retain control of this important ministry. They proposed the name of the new finance minister on their part and started opposing the way Adib wanted to form the government.

Mustafa Adib held several meetings with senior Shia leaders to resolve the crisis but to no avail. In the end, he announced his resignation from the task of forming a new government. As a result, the situation in Lebanon became more complicated.