(Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Ahead of the new government’s first meeting, Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday said that his cabinet is ready to deal with urgent issues, such as the array of essential goods shortages, the health crisis and the strengthening of diplomatic relations with Arab countries.
Here’s what we know:
• Members of the new government formed by Najib Mikati gathered in Baabda Palace on Monday for the official picture, ahead of their very first session, which is set to establish a sub-committee for the drafting of the ministerial statement that will be submitted to Parliament ahead of its vote of confidence in the new government.
• “We are prioritizing the slow down of the collapse, and focusing on the population’s main issues,” Mikati told media outlets on Monday. “We are about to enter a winter full of challenges, especially with the fuel shortages,” Mikati said as he highlighted the importance of ending the “lines of humiliation” in front of gas stations. “We must also provide medicines and medical services. That is what we are going to focus on.”
• On Friday, a few hours ahead of the birth of the government, Mikati told our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour, that he had drawn up an in-depth, comprehensive plan to chart the country’s course out of crisis. Mikati also said that he had contacted international funders who are willing to help Lebanon, including the International Monetary Fund.
• Lebanon’s new government was announced on Friday, ending 13 months of negotiations involving three potential premiers. Mikati’s new government is a 24-member cabinet of supposed technocrats.