Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on March 13, 2023 in Bkirki. (Credit: Hussam Chbaro)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati defended on Monday "the necessity of" his government meeting during a visit to the Maronite patriarchate at Bkirki ahead of a planned trip to the Vatican this week. Meetings of Mikati's caretaker cabinet have been challenged by some critics, including the members of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), who accuse him of arrogating to himself the prerogatives of the Lebanese president in the absence of a head of state.
The Maronite patriarchate had also expressed criticism of cabinet meetings held at a time when Mikati's government, having resigned in the wake of parliamentary elections last May, serves in a caretaker capacity and is therefore limited in its authority to handling day-to-day affairs.
"I explained to Patriarch Bechara al-Rai the need to hold government meetings and ensure the normal course of institutions," Mikati told reporters after his meeting with the head of the Maronite church.
"Those who talk about the legality of the cabinet would do better to elect a president," he added. Lebanese MPs have still not succeeded in electing a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term in office ended on Oct. 31. Some 11 successive parliamentary sessions dedicated to electing a new president have so far been held, but none has progressed beyond a first round of voting due to lack of political agreement.
The patriarch "informed me of the contacts he is making to speed up the election of a president," the caretaker prime minister added, before stating that the prelate "described the sectarian rhetoric as 'political hysteria.'"
FPM leader Gebran Bassil criticized Mikati on Twitter last week, contending that the premier was intentionally delaying signing Nationality Restoration Decrees for more than 500 people. "Before he goes to the Vatican to show his openness, he should sign the 525 Nationality Restoration Decrees to those who are entitled to it …. He does not do it because most of them are Christians, he himself admitted it," Bassil wrote. Criticizing the "confessionalism" of the prime minister, Bassil continued: "If he could stop violating the constitution and the laws, we could keep a good memory of him …."
The Grand Serail responded to Bassil via Twitter on Saturday, writing, "The words of the leader of the FPM Gebran Bassil do not surprise the prime minister, who considers that Bassil is familiar with this kind of speech far removed from patriotic, political and moral values."
"He only uses obnoxious sectarian language and distortion of facts," the Grand Serail continued, denouncing the "intellectual decline" of the Batroun MP.