Former heads of government in Lebanon announced their support for Najib Mikati's candidacy to form a new government, and this came a day before President Michel Aoun held the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister after Saad Hariri apologized - last Thursday - for completing the task.

The announcement of support for Mikati's candidacy came during a meeting held - today, Sunday - by Saad Hariri, Fouad Siniora, Tammam Salam and Najib Mikati, and it is expected that Lebanese President Aoun will announce - tomorrow, Monday - the person in charge of forming the government after a meeting with the parliamentary blocs.

Hassan Diab, head of the caretaker government, announced the resignation of his government after the explosion of the port of Beirut last August, after which Mustafa Adeeb and Saad Hariri were assigned, respectively, to form the government, but they were unable to form, and announced their apologies as a result of differences with President Aoun.

Third Parliamentary Consultations

More than 11 months after the resignation of the Diab government, and in the third parliamentary consultations conducted by the President of Lebanon since then, the name of former Prime Minister Najib Mikati is ahead of others.

The data indicate that the largest number of parliament members will nominate Mikati as their candidate to form the government, while the two largest Christian blocs, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces, will abstain from this.

According to the latest data so far, at 3:15 p.m.,


who decided to name #Miqati


the Future bloc, the Amal Movement bloc, the Jumblatt bloc,


Hezbollah, so far, it has not been decided whether or not he will name someone


and carry out a series of contacts with some of the forces of


the Free Current: Nawaf Salam or Nobody


Forces: Nobody

— hoseinmortada Hussein Mortada (@HoseinMortada) July 25, 2021

According to Lebanon's political system, a Sunni Muslim must hold the position of prime minister, while a Maronite Christian must head the country.

Any president charged with forming a government will have to reach an understanding with the President of the Republic on the government formula, in terms of distributing portfolios and naming ministers.

In a related context, the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi, expressed his hope that the parliamentary consultations would result in the assignment of a "national reformist figure, trusted by the revolting people and searching for real change, and the Arab and international communities concerned with helping Lebanon to get out of its financial hardship and collapse."

While presiding over the Sunday mass, Al-Rahi called for "facilitating the formation, not repeating the game of conditions, heresy of jurisprudence, and conflict of powers."

economic collapse

The caretaker government has run Lebanon for nearly a year, while its currency has collapsed, jobs have disappeared and banks have frozen their accounts.

This economic collapse is the worst crisis in Lebanon since the civil war that raged between 1975 and 1990.

Consultations assigning a new prime minister coincide with Arab and international positions that warned Lebanese politicians not to continue to obstruct the formation of the government and to prevent the adoption of a reform program that the international community considers a condition for providing aid that will allow Lebanon to confront its economic crisis.