Mikati welcomes Saudi-Iranian developments, urges election of president: report

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed satisfaction with the recent developments in the Saudi-Iranian relations file, stressing that Lebanon supports any consensual path in the region, especially since Saudi Arabia is a part of it, with its Arab and Islamic weight, and its vast regional influence.    

Mikati said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the relief that may result from this path must reflect positively on the entire region, including Lebanon.

 

He stressed that calming things down and stopping interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region would contribute to increasing developments, which constitute an opportunity to “look forward.” 

Mikati said that he supports the statement of Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan regarding the presidential file, as "we as Lebanese must not wait for the outside and do our duty to elect a president of the republic, build institutions, and start solving our many problems."    

The Lebanese Prime Minister warned that Lebanon cannot bear the crisis for long, as the crisis became "a bottleneck and may explode at any moment, and the required structural reforms must be accelerated before the crisis worsens and reaches the point of no return."    

Najib Mikati also stressed that the absence of a president, and the vacancy in the presidency, are not the government's responsibility.   

He asserted that the government would continue to meet despite the objections expressed by some parties, especially the team of former President Michel Aoun and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil after it found itself facing a constitutional reality that forced it to meet and take responsibility for the continuity of public utilities.    

He said that the national and moral responsibility requires them not to retreat from the required tasks but to redouble the effort to pass the difficult phase pending the president's election.