Lebanese President Michel Aoun (L.) meets with then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Jan. 5, 2022. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati met Wednesday morning in Baabda to discuss the Cabinet formation, a mission that has been dragging on for months, with Mikati leaving the meeting without making any statements, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• The meeting this morning adds to a series of fruitless meetings between Aoun and Mikati over forming a government, a task that is often considered tedious in Lebanon as it continuously faces delays. The cabinet formation has stretched out since late June as a compromise has not been established yet between the president and the premier-designate. The last government formation in Lebanon ended a 13-month deadlock.
• Mikati on June 29 submitted to Aoun “the version of the government that seems suitable” to him, a spokesperson for the PM-designate told L’Orient Today at the time. A source at Baabda Presidential Palace also told L’Orient Today that the proposed Cabinet is made up of 24 ministers and that it includes names from the old Cabinet as well as new names.
• The leaked list would renew the terms of most current caretaker ministers with the exception of caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayad, caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, caretaker Minister for the Displaced Issam Charafeddine and caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam. Mikati has since stuck to the list, although Aoun has suggested a different lineup.
• While the government formation has been unavailing, only seven days separate Lebanon from the start of the constitutional deadline to elect a new president, scheduled to start on Aug. 31. A risk of dragging the country into the unknown is feared, amid a disagreement on whether the caretaker Cabinet has the powers to manage Lebanon in case of a presidential vacuum.