Will Mikati back down on decision to call for a Cabinet session?

Government circles insist that Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has not and will not back down from calling for a cabinet session and that he is continuing his contacts for that purpose.

On Wednesday, the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers sent a letter to the ministers informing them of the agenda for the next session before setting the exact date, at the request of Caretaker Prime Minister Mikati, based on articles 62 and 64 of the constitution.

Mikati circles previously announced repeatedly that the session's agenda was limited to the electricity file as its falls under emergency issues.

 

However, looking at the draft laws listed on the agenda distributed to the ministers, the first two items are related to the electricity issue, and the other six items are not associated with electricity.

 

These articles are related to promoting all military corps officers, extending the maintenance contract for the Naameh landfill, and disbursing transportation allowances to contracting professors.

 

 Hezbollah has not decided yet its position today regarding its participation in any upcoming session if its results will be at the expense of the relationship with its ally, the Free Patriotic Movement.

 

The party has started internal discussions on the government issue. It is working on settling its position within the next forty-eight hours.

 

On the other hand, sources considered that the insistence on holding a Cabinet session under the caretaker government and in the absence of a President of the Republic raises more questions about the performance of Caretaker Prime Minister Mikati and his dealings with the limits of his government assuming the duties of the President of the republic by proxy, especially since other solutions are possible, as was the case in similar circumstances previously.

In this regard, the Free Patriotic Movement reiterated its refusal to hold any unconstitutional Cabinet session in the absence of a president.  FPM Sources confirmed to LBCI that the (FPM) position has not changed and will not change. If its ally "Hezbollah" participates in the session, the response will be heading to further escalation.

Well-informed sources wondered if Mikati would go too far in his violation in light of eight ministers boycotting the sessions he is calling for, specifically Caretaker Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad, the one in charge of the electricity file, who already expressed his position in this regard.

Will Mikati set a date for the session? Will he overcome the absence of the minister in charge and his signature as any minister that must not issue any decree without the signature of the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic or the signature of all members of the Council of Ministers in light of the presidential vacuum?