Lebanon's PM designate Hariri says won't form govt, deepening crisis 16 Jul 2021 / 10:07 H. (FILES) In this file photo taken on October 22, 2020, then former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri delivers a statement after the president named him to form a new cabinet, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of the capital Beirut. – AFP BEIRUT: Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad Hariri (pix) stepped down Thursday, saying he was unable to form a government, nine months after accepting the challenge and as the country sinks deeper into crisis. International donors remain adamant that a government must be established before they can provide funding, but political squabbling has repeatedly stymied such efforts and sent the currency to unprecedented lows that leave imported medicine and fuel increasingly unaffordable.