Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati received by Maronite Church head Bechara Raï in Dimane, North Lebanon, July 2, 2022. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — During a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai Saturday, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said that “no [governmental role] is the exclusive preserve of a particular sect,” despite hinting at the assignment of a Shia MP to the Finance Ministry, to assuage the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• “We must form a national government, otherwise the country will not progress,” Mikati continued, adding that he has “chosen a new minister and kept the office in the hands of the same sect [as in the caretaker government].” The Prime Minister-designate added that “in this particular situation, and since the government’s mandate will be limited, we don’t want disagreements over the finance minister.” “What’s important,” he said, “is that the government does its duty and arrives safely to the presidential elections,” scheduled for October, when President Michel Aoun’s mandate ends.
• Ministerial assignments leaked to the press suggest former deputy Yassine Jaber, close to the Amal Movement, has been assigned the new Finance Minister. The role of Energy Minister, however, is to pass from Walid Fayyad, a Greek Orthodox close to the Free Patriotic Movement, to Walid Sinno, a Sunni businessman and energy expert.
• Regarding the country’s maritime borders, Mikati said he’d received “encouraging news and hoped for better news still,” adding that he wouldn’t comment until “seeing the official response to the Lebanese proposal” given to American mediator Amos Hochstein. Border tensions rose after Israel deployed an exploration vessel to a contested area with the aim of extracting gas. Friday, US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea told Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri about the communications made by Hochstein regarding the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime border.