An advocate for school reform, Diab once said that “the solution to the highest economic, social and monetary challenges, as well as those similar to unemployment, lies in schooling in all its forms.”
Still little known to the general public, Diab was appointed prime minister in December 2019, two months after Lebanon’s unprecedented cross-sectoral popular uprising forced the dimitting of Sunni Muslim leader Saad Hariri.
Diab first praised the protest motion as “historic” and wrote on social media that other Lebanese people had “joined to protect their rights to a dignified and relaxed life.”
After weeks of negotiations, he assumed the post of prime minister, reserved for a Sunni in Lebanon’s power-sharing system, with the Shiite motions of Hezbollah and Amal, as well as the vague patriotic motion of President Michel Aoun, Christian.
The great Sunni bloc and its Christian allies have never given Diab theirs, complicating the task for a leader who is not a member of any political party or a specific group.
Since then, the styling black hair instructor has faced cascading crises, as well as growing complaints from the now-reborn popular protest movement.
Many Lebanese mocked his explosive speeches, in which he claimed to be the victim of conspiracies, as well as mocking an e-book he had published as minister of education in which he praised his achievements.
According to his supporters, his “stubborn” nature did not make him more popular with the protest movement.
After his appointment as prime minister, a confrontation broke out between him and the leadership of the AUB. He filed a lawsuit against the university’s monetary return to be paid in dollars abroad.
This resolution criticized for being deaf at a time when Lebanese citizens were denied access to their foreign exchange accounts because of the economic crisis.
Over the months, he has pulled the chimney out of the protest movement, which he once hailed as “historic and impressive.”
In recent days, the other Lebanese people took to the streets again and felt that Diab’s government, like the previous ones, had let them down.