(Bloomberg) -- Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah said the government should not resign in the face of mass protests, but assume responsibility for finding a way out of an economic crisis that has brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned that the group’s ministers and lawmakers would not accept an economic overhaul in which poorer Lebanese were expected to bear the brunt through higher taxes. Officials should find a way to rebuild public trust by ending decades of waste and mismanagement before adding economic pain to ordinary people, he said during a televised speech to supporters.

In a veiled threat to Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and his allies, who have blamed their rivals inside the coalition government for blocking economic reforms, Nasrallah said those who try to flee their responsibilities after years in power should be put on trial.

“A new government would be the same as the old one,” Nasrallah said, adding that early elections would not help the country out of the crisis either. “Everyone must accept responsibility and take part in finding a solution.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Lin Noueihed in Cairo at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net;Dana Khraiche in Beirut at dkhraiche@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Abbas Al Lawati

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.