Following Saad Hariri's apology for completing his mission in forming the Lebanese government, President Michel Aoun announced - after binding parliamentary consultations - naming Najib Mikati to form a new cabinet.

The stability of Mikati's name - in the hope of facing the worst economic crisis in Lebanon since the civil war (1975-1990) - may be due to his being a Sunni Muslim who came to politics from the business sector, and had previously served as prime minister twice before.

Birth and upbringing

Najib Azmi Mikati was born on November 24, 1955 in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.

It is the sixth number in the family arrangement, 4 girls and a boy kissed it.

After completing his preparatory and secondary education, he moved to the American University of Beirut, then continued his postgraduate studies in France and Harvard University in America.

He married Mai Doumani, and they have two children, Maher, Mira and Malik.


The world of "Business"

In the early 1980s, Mikati contributed to the establishment of the family-owned company Investing.com, which is active in the investment, telecommunications, banking, real estate, air transport and fashion sectors.

The company has become a leader in the telecommunications world in the emerging markets of the Middle East and Africa.

- Between 1992 and 1996, he was elected as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Beirut. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce, as well as the membership of the Syrian-Lebanese Businessmen Council.

He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Beirut, the advisory board of Harris College at the University of Chicago, and the advisory board of the International Crisis Group.

He chaired the "Forum of Moderation in Lebanon" and the "Middle East Foresight Forum".

- Since 1988, he has supervised with his older brother Taha the "Association of Azm and Social Happiness", whose charitable and developmental activities extend to various Lebanese regions, and the "Mikati Foundation", which is active in the developing world, especially the Arab countries and Africa.

The American magazine "Forbes" placed him in the 409th place globally and ninth in the Arab world for the world's richest people in 2011, with a fortune estimated at $2.8 billion, and in 2019, his and his brother Taha's fortune was estimated at $5 billion.

Mikati resigned as prime minister in March 2013 (Al Jazeera)

political experience

- Mikati entered politics from the world of finance and business. In 2000, he was elected as a representative of the city of Tripoli until 2005, and in 2009 he was re-elected as a representative of the city's constituency.

- He was assigned the portfolio of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport in 3 successive governments during 1998-2004. He also assumed the Ministry of the Displaced in Prime Minister Rafic Hariri's fifth government after the resignation of Minister Abdullah Farhat (September 9, 2004 to October 26, 2004).

- He presented himself as a consensual man ready to work with all Lebanese political forces, and was assigned to form a government for the first time after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 and the resignation of Omar Karami's government. Mikati headed a transitional government for three months whose main task was to organize parliamentary elections.

After the collapse of Saad Hariri's government following the resignation of the Lebanese opposition ministers;

In January 2011, Mikati was chosen as a candidate to head the government, and in parliamentary consultations, he obtained 68 votes out of 128 deputies, the number of deputies in Parliament. The then Lebanese President, Michel Suleiman, assigned him to lead the government on January 25, 2011.

- He officially assumed the prime ministership of Lebanon on June 13, 2011 until March 22, 2013;

He submitted his resignation for not forming a body to supervise the parliamentary elections, and opposing the extension of a security official, but he continued his duties as caretaker prime minister until February 15, 2014.

- In addition to his very good relations with the President of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad personally, Mikati has positive relations with France, as well as good relations with Turkish and Arab leaders.

- In 2020, he founded, with Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam, what is known as the "club of former heads of government in Lebanon".

(From right) Michel Aoun, Tammam Salam, Nabih Berri and Najib Mikati (Al Jazeera)

"Illicit enrichment"

- In July 2018, Lebanese media reported the existence of documents showing that financiers obtained millions of dollars in loans from banks supported by the Central Bank of Lebanon, as housing loans. Among these financiers was Mikati, who obtained 9 loans granted by a bank between 2010 and 2013. "back".

On October 23, 2019, the Lebanese prosecutor issued a decision accusing Mikati, his son, brother and others of “illegal enrichment” due to their obtaining subsidized housing loans, which Mikati denied and considered it “part of the ongoing pressure on him,” expressing his willingness to lift banking secrecy. for all his accounts.

- No judicial conviction was issued against Mikati, and the investigations into the case were closed.