WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, on Tuesday made the following statement after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation:
“The demands of the Lebanese people are clear—major economic and political reforms to make sure every citizen in Lebanon has a chance to succeed, a government open to new faces, and public services that work. Reshuffling the elites at the top won’t be enough to fix corruption at the highest levels, and I hope Prime Minister Hariri’s resignation is a sign of the government beginning to listen to the people it governs,” said Murphy. “Corruption destroys democracies from within, and can be used by outside actors to manipulate a country’s political systems. Today the story is Lebanon, but we’re seeing this play out in Iraq, Venezuela, and Afghanistan. We can’t wait any longer to tackle democratic backsliding. That’s why I will soon be introducing legislation to establish a new governance track in the Foreign Service to focus on anti-corruption efforts and governance assistance programs on behalf of our diplomatic corps.”
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