Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the presidential palace in Baabda on August 17, 2021. (Credit/Dalati and Nohra/File)
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced Friday that cabinet will meet "next week" to discuss the education sector in a country in the midst of economic collapse, whose public sector teachers have been on strike for more than three weeks.
"I will convene a meeting of the cabinet next week to discuss the educational file and its urgent situation," Mikati said.
In a statement reported by several local media outlets, he justified his decision. "I will not miss a chance to improve the situation, and I am multiplying contacts with officials to remedy the current collapse of the Lebanese lira against the dollar."
The country's currency continues to collapse, and its depreciation on the parallel market worsened in recent days, reaching a new record of 63,000 Lebanese lira to the dollar on Friday before rising abruptly to 58,000 lira by late afternoon.
In reaction to this latest escalation of the economic crisis and its attendant rise in fuel and bread prices, sporadic demonstrations have broken out in recent days, especially in Beirut.
Since the end of former President Michel Aoun's mandate on October 31, cabinet has met twice. Both sessions were boycotted by ministers close to the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and dealt with urgent matters such as electricity. The Aounist camp accuses Mikati of arrogating to himself the powers of the head of state.
Other political groups, including Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), called for a cabinet meeting to discuss education.