Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Arab League summit in Algiers, Nov. 2, 2022. (Credit: AFP)
He is presenting himself as the man for all seasons. Despite his status as a caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati continues to pull the strings, imposing himself as an actor who is all the more essential amid the country’s presidential vacancy.If he has managed to last to this day, it is because he holds the key — Mikati knows how to make himself indispensable and how to get on the good side of the country’s different political stakeholders.“Today, Mikati has a container full of water while everyone else is thirsty,” Rachid Derbas, a former minister from Tripoli, Mikati’s hometown, tells L’Orient-Le Jour.The prime minister’s latest tug-of-war with the Aounist camp over the cabinet formation — from which Mikati emerged somewhat victorious — demonstrates an ability to endure tough talks. Read more: Frangieh breaks the monotony of the...
He is presenting himself as the man for all seasons. Despite his status as a caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati continues to pull the strings, imposing himself as an actor who is all the more essential amid the country’s presidential vacancy.If he has managed to last to this day, it is because he holds the key — Mikati knows how to make himself indispensable and how to get on the good side of the country’s different political stakeholders.“Today, Mikati has a container full of water while everyone else is thirsty,” Rachid Derbas, a former minister from Tripoli, Mikati’s hometown, tells L’Orient-Le Jour.The prime minister’s latest tug-of-war with the Aounist camp over the cabinet formation — from which Mikati emerged somewhat victorious — demonstrates an ability to endure tough talks. Read more: Frangieh breaks...
