Outgoing minister believes there will not be a new cabinet before presidential elections

BEIRUT — Caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari on Sunday said that he believes there is “no possibility” for a new cabinet to be formed before the vote later this year to replace Michel Aoun as president when his term finishes at the end of October.

Here’s what we know:

    • “There is no possibility of forming a new government in such a short time because it will be merely transitory, with the approach of the presidential elections, and will cause dissension between different political forces,” Makari told Voice of Lebanon (93.3) radio.

    • Makari, who is perceived to be close to the Marada Movement, said that instead the caretaker government, whose term ended with the May Parliamentary elections, should be reactivated and given a vote of confidence.

    • Caretaker Premier Najib Mikati on Jun. 23 was designated to once again form a new government. Since the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005, it has taken Lebanon an average of 111 days to form a cabinet, according to L’Orient-Le Jour’s tabulations.

    • The last cabinet vacuum, from Hassan Diab’s resignation on Aug. 10, 2020 to the Sep. 10, 2021 formation of Mikati’s government, took just shy of 400 days.