Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai receiving outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Bkirki, 12 Dec 2022. (Courtesy Prime Minister's press office)
It was a last straw of sorts. While relations between Najib Mikati and Christian political and religious leaders are not at their best, the caretaker prime minister’s remarks on Tuesday night about the number of Christians in Lebanon have caused much indignation on this scene.Several Christian actors — starting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai, and including the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces — are not pleased with how the Sunni prime minister is running the executive branch in the absence of the Maronite president. Lebanon has been without a president, a role traditionally given to a Maronite Christian, since the end of former head of state Michel Aoun’s term on Oct. 31. Meanwhile, Mikati this week decided to assess the proportion of Lebanese Christians, long a sensitive issue in the public sphere, compared to...
It was a last straw of sorts. While relations between Najib Mikati and Christian political and religious leaders are not at their best, the caretaker prime minister’s remarks on Tuesday night about the number of Christians in Lebanon have caused much indignation on this scene.Several Christian actors — starting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai, and including the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces — are not pleased with how the Sunni prime minister is running the executive branch in the absence of the Maronite president. Lebanon has been without a president, a role traditionally given to a Maronite Christian, since the end of former head of state Michel Aoun’s term on Oct. 31. Meanwhile, Mikati this week decided to assess the proportion of Lebanese Christians, long a sensitive issue in the public sphere,...