Mikati says he will stay put to ensure May polls go ahead

BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday he would stay put as premier to avoid giving anyone an excuse to delay parliamentary elections scheduled for May 15.

The polls are the first since Lebanon's 2019 financial implosion and protests that drew thousands of people into the streets angry at the ruling elite, seen as responsible for decades of waste and corruption.

"I won't be dragged into resigning so that it is not an excuse for obstructing parliamentary elections," Mikati said in televised remarks outside a session of Parliament.

"This is a reason for not resigning," Mikati said, noting he had called for a vote of confidence in his government — a demand that was declined by House Speaker Nabih Berri.

Visibly irritated, Mikati said that the electoral interests of some parties were harming attempts by the government to extract Lebanon from its most serious crisis since the 1975-90 Civil War.

Mikati's government, named "Together to the Rescue," has not managed to agree on financial and reform measures demanded by Western donors and the International Monetary Fund, from whom Lebanon is seeking to secure an aid package.

Earlier this month, Mikati, a billionaire tycoon and three-time prime minister, said he wouldn't run for a seat in the 128-member legislature, saying he wanted to make room for new faces.