Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati (left), speaking with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh on Nov. 29, 2021. (Credit: Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday to discuss the "general situation" and "latest political updates," Berri's office said.
Following the meeting, Mikati said in a press briefing that he and Berri spoke of "many matters related to state functions, on which I asked for Berri's opinion.
"We are on the same page and I always follow up with him," he added.
Lebanon — in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis — has been experiencing a double executive vacancy since Nov. 1 following the end of former president Michel Aoun's term. Some accuse Mikati of trying to arrogate to himself the prerogatives of the president by convening the cabinet, which he did earlier this month.
A meeting of 20 ministers also took place at the Grand Serail in Beirut to decide on a "mechanism" to continue the management of current affairs in the absence of a president.