Beirut (Anadolu/Xinhua) – Caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has voiced hope that crisis-stricken Lebanon would soon exit its current difficult situation.
“Lebanon’s spring is near, God willing,” Mikati told reporters, before meeting with Maronite Patriarch, Mar Beshara Boutros al-Rahi.
Following the meeting, Mikati said he briefed the Patriarch over his contacts on the election of a new president for Lebanon.
“Without a political solution, it is not possible for Lebanon to exit the current crisis,” Mikati said.
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 unable to elect a new president since October 2022 to replace former president, Michel Aoun, amid differences among political rivals.
Lebanon has also been without a fully functioning government since May last year, with Mikati and his cabinet having limited powers in their current caretaker status.
Meanwhile, Lebanese caretaker Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan on Monday called on Arab countries to develop a partnership to make a change in food systems to achieve food security in the region.
“It is time to sound the alarm bell regarding food security,” Hajj Hassan was quoted as saying by the National News Agency, calling for “a partnership in planning and implementation through international and Arab organizations, led by the League of Arab States and through the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development.”
The minister’s remarks came during a meeting held in the capital Beirut by the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub in preparation for the first global Food Systems Stocktaking Moment in July.
Hajj Hassan said, “The Arab world makes up a big part of the world, and we have the ability to produce and partner, so the moment is very favorable.”
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s biggest grain suppliers, has raised the risk of a global food crisis, forcing import countries to place food security at the top of their priorities.