BEIRUT — Lebanon’s incoming government will vote tomorrow on its ministerial statement, a key document that outlines the cabinet’s priorities and will be scrutinized by MPs when voting on whether to grant confidence to the new ministers.

Here’s what we know:

    • A ministerial committee today finalized a seven-page draft of the statement, entitled “Determination and Hope,” our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour reported.

    • Once the document is endorsed by the new cabinet in a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, it will go to Parliament, which will likely meet next week to decide whether to grant confidence in the government.

    • Upon gaining confidence, the new government will be fully empowered to take decisions and implement policy. Lebanon has been without a fully empowered government since Aug. 10, 2020 — more than 13 months.

    • One minister on the drafting committee claimed that the statement focuses on actions to be taken rather than “big political slogans,” according to L’Orient-Le Jour.

    • The document reportedly contains clauses relating to the country’s severe fuel shortages, extreme power blackouts, the coronavirus pandemic, the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion and needed reconstruction, the protection of bank deposits, education, reforms required for international assistance and the May 2022 parliamentary elections.

    • Formed on Friday, the incoming government of 24 ministers will be expected to tackle a host of crises roiling Lebanon, most of which stem from the country’s 2-year-old financial meltdown. Officials and previous governments have done little to mitigate the effects of the crash.