Prime Minister Saad Hariri submitted his government's resignation on Tuesday, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests against corruption and sectarianism.

Hariri's sombre televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

As soon as Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation, popular delegations, dignitaries, clerics, former prime ministers, incumbent ministers and al-Mustaqbal Movement MPs from different areas flocked to the Center House to express their support for his decision to resign.

The visitors included former PMs Tamam Salam and Fouad Saniora, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan and the ministers Raya al-Hassan, Mohammed Choucair, Adel Afiouni and Jamal Jarrah.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is closely following the developments in Lebanon, including Tuesday’s resignation announcement by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, his spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

“He appeals for calm and restraint” and “calls on all political actors to seek a political solution that will preserve the stability of the country and respond to the aspirations of the Lebanese people,” Haq added.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Tuesday urged Lebanese authorities to “act decisively and quickly to form, within the constitutional norms, a new government responding to the aspiration of the people” in the wake of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation.

In a statement, he said the new government should be able to gain the Lebanese people’s confidence, to provide security, law and order, and to pursue and implement “deep reforms and changes, to stop the economic decline and put the country on the track of recovery, sustainable development, inclusive growth, and stability, preserving the unity of Lebanon and its people.”

Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation was necessary to prevent “civil strife” in the country.

“PM Saad Hariri’s resignation was necessary to prevent a descent into civil strife,” al-Hassan tweeted, noting that the risk of violence had been manifested in the attacks on protesters in central Beirut which occurred shortly before Hariri’s announcement.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea lauded Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation on Tuesday, saying it came “in response to the massive popular demand.”

“What’s important now is to go to the second step, which is essential and truly needed in order to overcome our current crisis,” Geagea said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat announced Tuesday that his bloc would vote for resigned PM Saad Hariri should he be nominated anew for the premiership, as he called for appointing someone other than Jebran Bassil as foreign minister.

In remarks to LBCI television, Jumblat also called for an end to road-blocking protests as he voiced support for the right to stage demonstrations.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday submitted his government’s resignation to President Michel Aoun, on the 13th day of an unprecedented popular revolt against the entire political class.

“I will head to the Baabda Palace to submit the government’s resignation in response to the demands of a lot of Lebanese who took to the streets,” Hariri said in an address to the nation.

Hundreds of Hizbullah and AMAL Movement supporters, some wielding sticks, on Tuesday attacked a protest camp set up by anti-government demonstrators in downtown Beirut, burning some of its tents and dismantling others.

The violence came shortly after dozens of other Hizbullah and AMAL supporters, also wielding sticks, attacked a roadblock set up by the protesters on neighboring Ring highway, a main thoroughfare in the capital.

France has reportedly told Prime Minister Saad Hariri that a meeting scheduled in Paris to discuss the details of CEDRE decisions in Lebanon has been postponed, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.