Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Dec. 28, 2021. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is set to convene Lebanon's caretaker cabinet Monday morning to discuss aid to the education and health sectors, according to an official agenda published Friday evening.
It will be the third such meeting of the caretaker cabinet amid a dispute over whether the body has certain powers as the country enters a fourth month with no president.
Ministers will be asked to discuss education, including potentially granting transportation allowances to different categories of public school teachers and opening an LL60 billion line of credit for the Lebanese University, the country's sole public university.
Cabinet must also consider a request from the Economy Ministry to open an additional $8 million line of credit to subsidize wheat imports from the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights.
Members are also expected to decide on extending maintenance and monitoring of the Naameh landfill in South Lebanon.
Also on the agenda for Monday are several advance payments to the Health Ministry to cover social aid for employees of government hospitals and imports of drugs for cancer and chronic diseases, for a period of three months.
Finally, ministers are set to study the issue of financing municipal elections scheduled for May 2023, as well as paying Lebanon's contribution to the UN. The non-payment of this annual contribution caused Beirut to lose voting rights at the UN General Assembly last month.
Mikati's cabinet is not fully empowered and has been acting in caretaker mode since legislative elections in May 2022, as no new cabinet was formed following the race. Ministers have so far met twice since the end of former president Michel Aoun's six-year term on Oct. 31, despite disagreements over cabinet's right to do so without a head of state.
The meetings have been boycotted by ministers from the Free Patriotic Movement, which Aoun founded, who accuse Mikati of trying to assume presidential powers.
