Lebanon’s outgoing Prime Minister Nayib Mikati has called for an extraordinary council of ministers on Monday to find out how much support he has within Lebanese politics after being officially delegitimized by the now former President Michel Aoun, who stepped down on October 30 and as of today still has no replacement.
In his final speech, Aoun confirmed the delivery to Parliament of a letter formalizing the resignation of the outgoing Council of Ministers of Mikati, who has continued to serve despite having resigned since the end of the previous legislature, with the election in May of a new Parliament. However, the missive was a rather blunt attack on Mikati’s current functions.
Now, Mikati has contacted «each and every one of his ministers to know their will», according to sources close to the newspaper ‘L’Orient-Le Jour’ for a meeting that needs the implicit approval of Hezbollah, whose ministers, Ali Hamiyé and Mustafa Bayram, should be present in principle.
Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, as might be expected, has repudiated the convocation. «Our position is clear: we reject the normalization of the functioning of the institutions in the absence of a President of the Republic and in the presence of a government that does not have the confidence of the Parliament,» said MP Alain Aoun.
According to the Lebanese media, ministers close to the former president, such as Hector Hajjar, Minister of Social Affairs, or Georges Bouchikian, Minister of Industry, have not yet taken a final decision.
All this comes two days after the failure of the eighth vote to elect Aoun’s successor and in anticipation of a ninth attempt next Thursday. In this new vote, MP Michel Muauad obtained 37 votes in favor, while two ballots went to former minister Ziad Barud and four to historian Isam Jalifé. Likewise, 52 parliamentarians cast blank ballots. In the first round, the president must be elected with 86 votes, while in the subsequent rounds an absolute majority of 65 votes is required.
Lebanon, it should be recalled, has been trapped for several years in a deep and prolonged political, economic and social crisis that has resulted in more than 70 percent of the population living below the poverty line and a banking system paralyzed since October 2019.
