Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati (left) received by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on June 23, 2022. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Friday said that government formation will be “difficult,” a day after the election of Najib Mikati as prime minister-designate, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• “It’s true that Mikati received few votes, but, in the end, this was the best outcome possible,” Siniora said. Mikati was designated with 54 votes in his favor on Thursday.
• Siniora described the Parliament as “fragmented,” adding that “the majority who won the legislatures remains very scattered.” Opposition MPs, independents and MPs from traditional parties aligning themselves with opposition movements did not reach a consensus on a candidate.
• “The designation of Najib Mikati will go through a difficult period,” Siniora continued, finding that “it will be very difficult to agree to form” the next government. The former prime minister also criticized President Michel Aoun noting that “his party [Free Patriotic Movement] and its alliances with Hezbollah and affiliated forces have led the country to collapse.”
• On Friday, Mikati scheduled parliamentary consultations for the formation of a new government for Monday and Tuesday.
• Following parliamentary consultations on Thursday, Najib Mikati was designated prime minister after receiving 54 votes, constituting a majority against 24 votes for Nawaf Salam, 47 blank votes, one vote for Saad Hariri and one vote for Rawaa al-Halab and one absentee, as Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi boycotted the consultations.