BEIRUT (Anadolu/ Reuters) – Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Saturday that “political will” is required to end an impasse on the election of a new president.
“What is needed first and foremost is the political will of various political forces and blocs to complete the formation of constitutional institutions by electing a new president as soon as possible,” Mikati said at a press conference in Beirut.
He said Lebanon is facing a suffocating crisis reflected in all aspects of life, calling for making required “reform laws” before moving to a final agreement with the International Monetary Fund to achieve the “promised economic recovery.”
On Thursday, Lebanese lawmakers failed for the eighth time to elect a new president.
Former president Michel Aoun left office on Oct. 31 after completing a six-year term, without lawmakers agreeing on a successor.
Since 2019, Lebanon has been facing a crippling economic crisis that, according to the World Bank, is one of the worst the world has seen in modern times.
The country has been without a fully functioning government since May, with Mikati and his cabinet having limited powers in their current caretaker status.
Lebanon’s caretaker government will hold its first session in more than six months next week but the agenda, seen by Reuters, omits any mention of possible steps towards fulfilling reforms required for an IMF deal to ease the country’s financial crisis.
The agenda of the Dec. 5 cabinet session contains a number of pressing health, educational and other matters, but nothing to do with decisions related to financial restructuring required for a $3 billion International Monetary Fund deal.
The government went into caretaker mode after May elections but, more than six months later, politicians have failed to agree on the shape of a new cabinet despite tasking billionaire tycoon Mikati to form one in June.