BEIRUT, LEBANON (AFP) – Lebanon was set to start negotiations on Monday to name a new prime minister, who will lead the country’s third effort to form a government in less than a year, amid growing political and economic instability.
Since then-prime minister Hassan Diab resigned in the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion, which killed more than 200 people last August, the country has been without a properly functional administration.
Despite an economic crisis dubbed one of the world’s worst since the mid-nineteenth century by the World Bank, political wrangling has frequently stymied progress, with two appointed premiers failing to assemble a government since then.
President Michel Aoun and parliamentary blocs met on Monday to try to identify a replacement for Saad Hariri, who resigned as Prime Minister-designate on July 15 after nine months of political horse-trading failed to create a new cabinet.
The official National News Agency reported that talks would begin at 10:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) in the presidential palace and would go until the afternoon, with a final choice revealed by the end of the day.
Najib Mikati, a millionaire businessman and two-time premier, is the most probable candidate, according to local media sources.
Hariri, Fouad Siniora, and Tamam Salam, three former prime ministers of Lebanon, said on Thursday that they would support Mikati’s candidacy.
If chosen, the 65-year-old political veteran would be required to put together a cabinet and ministerial lineup that will satisfy party leaders vying for cabinet seats and ministries.
It might take months for a genuine government to be established, but Lebanon, which is dealing with growing poverty, a falling currency, and shortages of basic commodities ranging from medication to petrol, cannot afford any delays.
International donors, led by former colonial power France, have offered millions of dollars in humanitarian help, but only if Lebanon can put in place a government that can combat corruption.
However, despite mounting international pressure and threats of European Union penalties, Lebanese lawmakers have failed to make any significant headway.
This month, France said that on August 4, it will convene an assistance meeting to “respond to the needs of the Lebanese, whose position is increasing every day.”
The meeting takes place on the one-year anniversary of the port explosion, which was largely blamed on decades of neglect by the country’s ruling elite.
