Caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (left) is received by Crown Prince and Saudi Prime Minister Mohammad Bin Salman, in Riyadh on Dec. 11, 2022. (Credit: Twitter/@grandserail)
BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities are committed to "taking all measures not to offend Saudi Arabia," caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati assured Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS) on Saturday. MBS received Mikati in Riyadh, two days after a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at which the body called on Beirut to "respect the constitution and its deadlines."
Lebanon is mired in an economic crisis coupled with a political crisis. Since Nov. 1, there has been a total political vacuum in the executive branch of government: no president has yet been elected to replace Michel Aoun, who term in office ended on Oct. 31, and the cabinet, which assumed caretaker status in the aftermath of parliamentary elections in May, only has the authority to manage day-to-day affairs. In addition, nine parliamentary sessions devoted to the election of a new head of state have so far failed, with a lack of political agreement meaning no candidate has been able to garner sufficient support among Lebanon's MPs to be elected president.
Insistence on Taif
In a statement issued by the official Saudi news agency SPA and relayed by the Grand Serail, Mikati "affirmed the commitment of the Lebanese government to take all measures not to offend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and all Arab countries, especially the GCC member states," during his meeting with MBS.
The kingdom regularly emphasizes the fight against "terrorist organizations" in Lebanon in remarks that are typically interpreted to target Hezbollah, which is openly backed by Iran.
Mikati also thanked the Saudi Crown Prince "for the positions taken by Saudi Arabia towards Lebanon" and the role it played during the Taif Agreement, drafted in 1989, which ended the 1975-90 Civil War.
The two leaders stressed "the importance of electing a president in Lebanon and implementing the reforms to which the Lebanese people and the international community aspire," the text continues, emphasizing that MBS reaffirmed to Mikati the kingdom's commitment "to the security and stability" of Lebanon and the continuation of humanitarian aid from Riyadh.
At the end of 2021, Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries recalled their ambassadors to Lebanon, after diplomatic tensions arose following the broadcast of comments by then Lebanese Information Minister George Kurdahi on Riyadh's role in the war in Yemen. Kurdahi tendered his resignation weeks later, and relations between Beirut and the Gulf monarchies have been slowly improving since.
The international community regularly calls on Lebanon's leaders to elect a president soon, and was doing so long before Aoun's departure from Baabda. But despite successive calls, no diplomatic initiative has materialized so far.
In December 2021, Paris and Riyadh set up a Franco-Saudi mechanism to finance projects in the medical, educational, social and humanitarian fields in Lebanon.
