Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi resigned from government on Sunday in light of “the national crisis caused by the de facto powers.”

Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi resigned from government on Sunday in light of “the national crisis caused by the de facto powers.”

He said in a statement: “The actions of these forces are leading the state towards fragmentation and vacuum, including tarnishing the national identity and exposing Lebanon's sovereignty, economy, future, and international and Arab ties to grave dangers.”

He listed the presidential vacuum, paralysis of state institutions, failure to refer Josef Samaha's case to the Judicial Council, and “destruction of Lebanon's ties with Saudi Arabia and other Arab brothers for the first time in Lebanese history.”

He also noted the ongoing “garbage disposal farce that is jeopardizing the lives of the Lebanese people.”

“This crisis should have been tackled the minute it erupted out of mercy for this beautiful country, whose wrong policies and various conspiracies have tarnished its image before the Lebanese people and the world,” Rifi lamented.

“From my position as minister in this cabinet, I witnessed what words cannot describe," he said, adding that positions of Hezbollah and allies "are no longer acceptable."

“Remaining in this government will be a sign of acceptance of this perversion or the inability to confront it, both of which are options that I reject,” he stressed.

Shortly after Rifi's resignation, the National News Agency reported that Judge Alisse Shebtini will replace him as Acting Justice Minister.

Moreover, the cabinet is scheduled to convene on Monday in an extraordinary session to address the repercussions of Saudi Arabia's decision to halt its aid grant to the Lebanese army.