Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun signed a decree forming a new government in the presence of parliament speaker Nabih Berri on Friday, the presidency said in a statement.
“The situation is very difficult. But it’s not impossible if we united as Lebanese. We have to put our hands together,” Mikati told the press on Friday. “We are all going to work together, united with hope and determination.”
The new prime minister made the remarks at a press conference at the presidential Baabda Palace after his meeting with Aoun to sign the government formation decree, with Berri’s presence.
Before meeting the president, the Speaker of the Parliament arrived at the presidential palace waving a paper to the press with what was the finalized list of ministers.
Like the country’s previous government, the list consists of newcomers, including Finance Minister Yousef Khalil, a senior Central Bank official, and Health Minister Firas Abiad of the government-run Rafic Hariri University Hospital, who came to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new Prime Minister, Mikati, vowed to help Lebanon through “exceptional circumstances”, as its economy continues to crumble, expressing his concern about the state of education, the country’s brain drain, and medicine shortages.
The Lebanese pound has lost 90 percent of its value in less than two years, while gasoline, diesel fuel, and medicine shortages plagued the country. The United Nations recently estimated that almost three-quarters of the population in Lebanon live in poverty.
The exchange rate of the US dollar against the Lebanese pound in the parallel market fell below 17,000 pounds, after the new government announcement, according to Aljazeera.
Lebanon hasn’t had a full-fledged government in 13 months, after caretaker Prime Minister Hasan Diab’s government resigned in August 2020 in the wake of the Beirut Port explosion.
Since then, two government formation attempts have failed, once by diplomat and Ambassador to Germany Mustafa Adib, the other by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
The political paralysis continued to persist, despite attempts from the French government to break the deadlock, and the European Union threatening officials with sanctions.
With the government now formed, Parliament will soon convene to issue a vote of confidence for the Mikati government.
Prime Minister Mikati was appointed almost two months ago on July 26, soon after previous prime minister-designate Saad Hariri’s resignation.
Mikati, the man who succeeded in bringing Lebanese politicians together for the first time in over a year, is a 65 years old multibillionaire businessman and one of the wealthiest in Lebanon.
He is currently a parliamentarian representing the northern city of Tripoli, and heads a three-member bloc. He has previously had two stints as Lebanon’s prime minister, once in a caretaker capacity in 2005, and more recently from June 2011 until February 2014.
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