BEIRUT (Al Jazeera/Xinhua) – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said that he will not seek re-election in a parliamentary election scheduled for May 15.
The statement, made in a television address, two months from a vote seen as important for reinvigorating public life in Lebanon in the third year of a financial crisis.
The vote also comes after the August 2020 Beirut port blast, which killed more than 200 people and flattened several neighborhoods in the heart of the capital.
Mikati pledged to continue work to pull Lebanon out of its crippling economic crisis that has left more than 75 percent of the country’s six million people, including one million refugees, in poverty.
The Lebanese premier called on people to turn out to vote and said his move aimed to “provide room for the new generation.”
“I will support the efforts of those chosen by the people and cooperate with everyone for the public interest,” he said.
The announcement by Mikati follows a similar one by former premier Saad Hariri earlier this year saying that he will not run in the elections and neither will members of the Future Movement.
Hariri, a three-time prime minister and current member of parliament, further acknowledged that he had failed to prevent Lebanon from falling into the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
Hariri inherited the political leadership from his father, Rafik Hariri, after his assassination in 2005.
Lebanon has been mired in a deep financial crisis since late 2019, which has caused the Lebanese pound to lose around 90 percent of its value to the dollar and led its banking system to collapse.
Mikati on Tuesday urged the United Nations to support Lebanon in dealing with food security threats amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Lebanese Council of Ministers said.
“We call on the UN to support Lebanon in confronting the repercussions of the war based on the organization’s plan of helping countries in the region face this crisis,” he said.
Mikati’s remarks came during his meeting at the Grand Serail with a delegation from the United Nations headed by the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. Lebanese officials stated earlier this month that the country would be facing food shortages within a month if the Ukraine conflict continues.
Lebanon relies on imported food, particularly sunflower oil and wheat from Ukraine, which risks jeopardizing its food security.