Diab was picked by Hezbollah and its allies - the Free Patriotic Movement and the Amal Movement - amid an unprecedented protest movement railing against a ruling elite whose corruption and negligence led the country into deep economic and social crises.
Bassel Sallouk, an associate professor of political science at the Lebanese American University, said it was a ploy of Lebanon's establishment.
Some parts of the political establishment chose to sit out of Diab's cabinet, which won a vote of confidence in parliament in February.
But regardless of whether they were in or out, establishment politicians took to criticising Diab's government and blaming it for the ills of 30 years of failed rule following the country's 1975-90 civil war.
House Speaker Nabih Berri, one of the key figures of Lebanon's unbudging political class, had called for a session on Thursday to question the government over the explosion, which also wounded 6,000 people and rendered 300,000 homeless.
Though government ministers point to the past when confronted with Lebanon's deep crisis today, they proved unable to stop the country's economic collapse during six months in power. Diab's office was also informed of the presence of the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut's port that fuelled last week's explosion at least two weeks before it happened - but failed to act on time.
Before becoming prime minister, Diab was a little-known academic and a vice president at the American University of Beirut, where he had taught for more than 30 years.
The failure of a government headed by self-described independent technocrats worked in favour of a political class who have sustained themselves for decades on a clientelistic relationship with their supporters - a relationship based on the provision of services in exchange for loyalty.
Original article