Lebanon: Mikati most likely to become next PM

Top Lebanese Sunni leaders say ex-pm Najib Mikati their choice to form new government. (File/Dalati and Nohra/AFP)
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Updated 26 July 2021
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Lebanon: Mikati most likely to become next PM

  • Majority of political blocs hesitant over nominating a PM, but Mikati appears closest
  • Lebanon has been run by a caretaker administration for nearly a year

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun will hold binding parliamentary consultations on Monday to nominate a Sunni figure to form a government, with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati expected to lead the new administration.

But even if the decree to designate someone is issued on Monday, the process of forming a government is expected to present many obstacles.
In preparation for the one-day consultations, the parliamentary blocs have been meeting on Sunday to discuss who they want to nominate.
Sources say they are mostly concerned about any candidate’s ability to form a government after former Prime Minister Saad Hariri failure nine months after he was designated. Hariri’s episode followed Ambassador Mustapha Adib stepping down in September 2020, less than two months after he was designated, for failing to achieve the same goal.
Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab has been running a government that resigned following the Aug. 4 Beirut explosion. The politicians, who are divided by sectarianism but united by corruption, have been failing to form a government that would implement the reforms required by the international community to help Lebanon emerge from its unprecedented economic crisis.




An anti-government protester walks with a Lebanese national flag during a demonstration in downtown Beirut. The country is marred by political and economical crises. (AFP)

At the same time, Aoun and his political team are insisting on obtaining the blocking third in any government, which they would fill with Christian ministers.
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is against designating Mikati because it believes he represents “an extension of Hariri and is not popularly accepted due to the lawsuits filed against him.”

HIGHLIGHT

Hezbollah MPs not commenting until parliamentary consultations, but expected to support the favorite Miktati.

The Lebanese Forces (LF), on the other hand, decided not to nominate anyone, arguing: “It is time for early parliamentary elections, not a government.”
These two objections warn of the possibility of either a party forming a government soon, or postponing parliamentary consultations to designate a prime minister to form a government that would later gain the parliamentary vote of confidence. Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli said: “The fact that two Christian blocs refrain from nominating Mikati does not mean that he cannot be designated. There are 22 Christian MPs who do not belong to those two blocs; they were also elected by Christians. Two blocs cannot speak for all Christians.”

There are 19 Christian MPs left in the FPM bloc and 15 Christian MPs within the LF bloc, bringing the total to 34 MPs, while 30 others are either independent or left Gerbran Bassil’s bloc, and represent the Christians outside those two blocs.
On Sunday, the majority of the political blocs were hesitant over the issue of nominating a prime minister-designate, but Mikati seems to be the most popular choice.
Pierre Bou Assi, an MP in the LF bloc, said: “The LF’s decision not to nominate anyone to form the government is not related to the possible candidates, but to the political situation and the political intention of the ruling majority not to assume its responsibilities toward the people,” stressing that “whoever has a sound political intention to form a government, does not leave the country without a government for nine months.”
In October 2020, the LF bloc did not nominate Hariri to form a government.
The FPM MPs did not comment on their stance. However, bloc member MP Simon Abi Ramia said “we have no intention of nominating Mikati; we could either nominate Nawaf Salam or no one at all.”
Rola Al-Tabash, a member of Hariri’s Future bloc, said: “Mikati is a former prime minister and he supports Hariri, who aims to save the country. I believe that after the consultations, it will become clear to everyone who was the one obstructing the formation of the government, as he has previously done.”
The Development and Liberation bloc, headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, stressed that the bloc is “positive about reaching a government because the situation is difficult and no one can bear it; nothing is stopping the bloc from nominating Mikati.”
The Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc — headed by Taymour Jumblatt — maintained its position, calling for “compromising in the interest of the nation,” according to MP Bilal Abdullah.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah’s MPs have refrained from expressing any positions prior to the consultations, though they are expected to nominate Mikati.
MP Hassan Fadlallah said: “It is important that designating someone would be an actual prelude to forming a government without any time-wasting obstacles. The priority is to form a rescue government quickly in light of the ongoing collapse.”
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai said on Sunday that he hoped consultations would result in “designating a national reformist figure that would please the revolting people who want real change. This figure also needs to please the Arabs and international community concerned with helping Lebanon to get out of its financial hardship.”
Al-Rai said he hoped everyone would urgently cooperate to form a government, putting aside their power struggles. “The country is sliding into poverty, chaos is prevailing and state institutions are collapsing. The so-called rights of sects have no value now that Lebanon is facing imminent danger.”


Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

Updated 3 sec ago
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Syrian state media: Israel attacked town near Lebanon border

DAMASCUS: An Israeli strike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.
“An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr” in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

Updated 13 min 48 sec ago
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Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 43,391

  • The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours

GAZA STRIP: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed in the year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.


Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

Updated 38 min 40 sec ago
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Greece says migrant arrivals rising in south-east islands

  • At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents
  • Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps

ATHENS: Some islands in the southeast of the Aegean sea, including Rhodes, are seeing an increase in migrants arriving by boat from Turkiye, Greek migration and asylum minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said Tuesday.
“The southeast of the Aegean and the island of Rhodes are experiencing migratory pressure right now,” he said on public television station ERT, though he said the increase does not appear to be linked to rising tensions in the Middle East.
At the end of October, several hundred migrants set up tents and cardboard houses outside the local government offices of the city of Rhodes, sparking anger among residents and local authorities.
According to local media Rodiaki, more than 700 migrants arrived during the last week of October.
Rhodes mayor Alexandros Koliadis told Rodiaki that the island lacks the personnel, police officers and coast guard needed to register the arrivals before transferring them to camps on the mainland or in other islands.
Previously, Aegean islands further north such as Lesbos and Samos had received the brunt of migrants crossing from Turkish shores.
Crete, which has likewise seen an increase in arrivals from Libya, also needs to build facilities to process migrants.
Greece has seen a 25 percent increase this year in the number of people fleeing war and poverty, with a 30 percent increase alone to Rhodes and the south-east Aegean, according to the Migration Ministry.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says 48,158 arrivals have been recorded so far in 2024, of which around 42,000 arrived by boat and 6,000 by crossing the land frontier with Turkiye.
“The camps on the islands have an occupancy rate of 100 percent. But on the mainland they are only 55 percent full, which provides a margin in the event of an increase in arrivals on the islands,” Panagiotopoulos said.


Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

Updated 51 min 17 sec ago
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Sudan files AU complaint against Chad over arms: minister

  • Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF

PORT SUDAN: Sudan’s army-backed government on Tuesday accused neighboring Chad of supplying arms to rebel militias, likely referring to the paramilitary forces it is battling.
The northeast African country has been engulfed by war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the regular army, led by de facto ruler Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
Justice minister Muawiya Osman said Burhan’s administration had lodged the complaint against Chad at the African Union.
Speaking to reporters, including AFP, Osman said the government demanded compensation and accused Chad of “supplying arms to rebel militias” and causing “harm to Sudanese citizens.”
“We will present evidence to the relevant authorities,” he added from Port Sudan, where Burhan relocated after fighting spread to the capital, Khartoum.
Chad last month denied accusations that it was “amplifying the war in Sudan” by arming the RSF.
“We do not support any of the factions that are fighting on Sudanese territory — we are in favor of peace,” foreign minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said at the time.
The United Nations has been using the Adre border crossing between the two countries to deliver humanitarian aid.
Sudan had initially agreed to keep the crossing open for three months, a period set to expire on November 15. Authorities in Khartoum have yet to decide whether to extend the arrangement.
The Sudanese war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country’s borders.


Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

Updated 05 November 2024
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Explosion at Turkish oil refinery injures 12

  • The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations

ANKARA: An explosion at an oil refinery in northwestern Turkiye on Tuesday left at least 12 employees slightly injured, the company said. A fire at the facility was quickly brought under control.
The Turkish Petroleum Refineries company, TUPRAS, said a fire broke out at its facilities in Izmit, in Kocaeli province, during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s emergency teams responded immediately to the incident, it said in a statement.
The 12 employees sustained slight injuries and were taken to a hospital for examinations, the company said.
The company said the unit where the incident occurred “was deactivated in a controlled manner” and that other operations at the refinery were “continuing as normal.”
Earlier, Tahir Buyukakin, the mayor for Kocaeli told private NTV television that the blast occurred during a drill. The fire was quickly brought under control by the company’s own crews and no request for help was made, he said.
Video footage from the site showed smoke rising from the refinery, which is one of Turkiye’s largest. Izmit is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Istanbul.
The Borsa Istanbul stock exchange temporarily halted trading of TUPRAS shares, until the company provides a detailed explanation of the incident.