New Government Expected to be Formed Today

The new cabinet will be formed “within hours,” TV networks said on Friday.

“PM-designate (Najib) Miqati informed me minutes ago that things have literally been finalized and that the cabinet will be formed before or after the Friday prayer,” Lebanese journalist Abbas Daher told al-Jadeed TV Friday morning.

The Presidency later announced that President Michel Aoun will meet with Miqati at noon in Baabda.

LBCI TV had earlier reported that “all sources agree that the cabinet line-up has been finalized and has become ready to be announced.”

“A few hours separate us from the government’s formation,” the sources told LBCI, adding that “when an appointment is set for Miqati to visit Baabda” it would be an indication that the government would certainly be formed.

“An agreement has been reached to name Amin Salam as economy minister,” the TV network said.

Miqati’s sources also said that “the line-up has been finalized and is currently being fine-tuned.”

Miqati, who has been prime minister twice before and is the country's richest man, was designated on July 26 to form a government after his two predecessors threw in the towel.

Lebanon has been run by a caretaker government since August 10, 2020 when the current premier Hassan Diab and his cabinet resigned en masse following a deadly explosion at Beirut port.

Lebanon can no longer provide mains electricity to its citizens for more than a few hours a day, nor can it afford to buy the fuel needed to power generators.

Very few of the international community's demands for a broad program of reforms have yet been met, hampering the disbursement of foreign assistance.

Further stalling the bankrupt state's recapitalization has been the government's failure to engage the International Monetary Fund and discuss a fully-fledged rescue plan.