CAIRO (Archyde.com) – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday he would convene the government within days for the first time in nearly three months, apparently ending a standoff that has paralyzed the government amid a financial crisis.
Mikati said following a meeting with President Michel Aoun, “I informed President Aoun that the general budget for 2022 is ready and will be received within the next two days, and as soon as the budget is received, the cabinet will be called to convene.”
The powerful Iran-backed group Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, have refused to allow the cabinet to meet since Oct. 12 and have demanded the dismissal of a judge investigating the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut in 2020. Mikati said the executive authority had no say in the matter.
The failure of the government to meet prevented taking measures to address a crisis described by international bodies as one of the worst financial collapses in the history of the world. The national currency recorded its lowest level ever at 30 thousand pounds to the dollar last night, losing 95 percent of its value compared to its value in 2019.
Mikati said that the approval of the government and parliament on the general budget for 2022 is a basic requirement of the International Monetary Fund, amid talks on a support program considered essential to reviving the Lebanese economy.
Mikati said that he believes that the government’s agenda and the presentation of the budget increase the importance of the government meeting, and ruled out that anyone would fail in his national duty.