BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Lebanon’s new government secured a vote of confidence from the parliament on Monday, putting an end to a 13-month political deadlock that worsened the financial crisis gripping the Mediterranean country.
Following a parliamentary session, 85 Lebanese lawmakers voted for Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet while 15 voted against it.
The remaining 17 MPs were not present during the voting session.
Mikati said his government would seek to boost Lebanon’s international relations and appealed to “brotherly Arab countries” to help Beirut out of its current crisis.
According to a report by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, he stressed that “Lebanese citizens have the right to oppose Israel’s occupation, and to respond to its attacks.”
Mikati also pledged that his government would continue to work to liberate territories occupied by the Zionist regime.
The new administration, the prime minister added, supports the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and will demand that it “end Israel’s invasion of Lebanese sovereignty — land, sea, and air.”
Lebanon fought off two wars with the Zionist regime in 2000 and 2006. On both occasions, battleground contribution by its Hezbollah resistance movement proved an indispensable asset, forcing the Israeli military into a retreat.
Mikati has also drawn up a policy program aimed at reviving talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a bailout package to purportedly rescue the debt-ridden country from its worst economic meltdown in history.
The program also involves controversial reforms that donors want to see before they unlock foreign assistance.
“From the heart of the suffering of Beirut ... our cabinet was born to light a candle in this hopeless darkness,” Mikati said in his speech.
“We will immediately begin the reform file. We have actually begun discussions with the International Monetary Fund… This issue is not an option but a mandatory passageway that must succeed in order to serve as the first foundation toward salvation and the right way for Lebanon’s revival,” he said.