Businessman Mikati, set to be named premier, meets Lebanese president
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[July 26, 2021]
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese
President Michel Aoun on Monday held a brief meeting with leading
businessman Najib Mikati, set to receive the backing of a majority of
parliamentarians later in the day to try to form a government.
Mikati, who has been prime minister twice before and unlike many
Lebanese leaders does not hail from a political bloc or dynasty, did not
give any statement after the meeting that formally began consultations
to designate a prime minister.
Like the previous nominee, Saad al-Hariri, he faces major challenges in
navigating Lebanon's power-sharing structure to secure agreement on a
cabinet to tackle a crippling financial crisis.
While Lebanon has been run by a caretaker administration for nearly a
year, since a huge blast devastated large parts of Beirut, its currency
has collapsed, jobs have vanished and banks have frozen accounts. The
economic freefall is Lebanon's worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.
Hezbollah, the heavily armed Shi'ite Islamist movement that Washington
deems a terrorist group, nominated Mikati in Monday's consultations and
most of the main parliamentary blocs supported the nomination.
"Today, with signs that hint at the possibility of forming a government
... that's why we named Mikati, to give an extra boost to facilitate
forming a government," Muhammad Raad, the leader of Hezbollah's
parliamentary bloc told reporters.
Among Mikati's endorsers was Hariri, who abandoned his effort to form a
new government last week after nearly 10 months of failing to agree its
makeup with Aoun.
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Lebanon's President Michel Aoun meets with leading businessman Najib
Mikati at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon July 26, 2021.
Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Hariri told reporters after meeting Aoun that he
hoped Mikati would be chosen and succeed in forming a cabinet.
"The country has a chance today," he said.
The news of Mikati's likely designation boosted the Lebanese pound
on the unofficial parallel market, where dollars changed hands at
around 16,500 pounds, compared to over 22,000 at the height of the
deadlock over the government.
In Lebanon's political system, the post of prime minister has to be
held by a Sunni Muslim, while the presidency is held by a Maronite
Christian.
Western governments have been piling pressure on Lebanon, one of the
most heavily indebted states in the world, to form a government that
can set about reforming the corrupt state. They have threatened to
impose sanctions and said financial support will not flow before
reforms begin.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maha al Dahan; Editing by Kevin
Liffey and Toby Chopra)
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