Businessman Najib Mikati poised to be Lebanon’s next premier, meets with President Michel Aoun

The sixty-year-old Mikati held a brief meeting with Aoun on Monday ahead of an expected parliamentary session later the same day to choose the country's next prime minister and end months-long political deadlock in Lebanon.

Mikati did not make any remarks after the meeting, which was considered as the formal beginning of consultations to choose the new prime minister-designate. He is expected to receive the support of a majority of parliamentarians and start forming a desperately-needed government.

Mikati received endorsements from three former Lebanese prime ministers, namely Hariri, Fuad Siniora, and Tammam Salam, a day earlier, when the four held a meeting in capital Beirut, ahead of Monday’s scheduled selection process.

After meeting Aoun, Hariri expressed hope that Mikati would be chosen and succeed in forming a cabinet. “The country has a chance today,” Hariri said.

Mikati also gained the endorsement of Speaker Nabih Berri, the Progressive Socialist Party, and the Amal Movement, with the Hezbollah movement endorsing him as well.

Lebanese legislators are scheduled to meet with President Aoun later in the day to designate a new prime minister.

“Today, [there are] ... signs that hint at the possibility of forming a government ... that's why we named Mikati, to give an extra boost to facilitate forming a government," Muhammad Raad, the leader of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, told reporters.

The new prime minister-designate will need to agree with Aoun on the composition of any new government amid growing problems faced by the country, including a crippling financial crisis and severe shortages of basic goods such as medicine and fuel.

Back in May, 51-year-old Hariri, who is a veteran Sunni Muslim politician, said that he would not form a government that simply complies with the wishes of the president, who is a Maronite Christian, nor any other political faction.

Hariri was tasked with forming a government for a fourth time in October 2020. That was one year after he resigned as prime minister amid mass protests.

A caretaker administration by Hassan Diab has run the small country for nearly a year, while the currency has collapsed, jobs have vanished and banks have frozen accounts.

Under Lebanon's sectarian system, the premier must be a Sunni Muslim. Aoun is required to choose the candidate with the greatest support from legislators.

The Mediterranean country plunged into a political vacuum in August 2020, when the previous administration, led by then Prime Minister Hassan Diab, resigned following a devastating explosion at the port in Beirut that destroyed swathes of the capital and left more than 200 people dead.

The country’s currency has lost more than 90 percent of its value since fall 2019 and more than half of the population has been rendered jobless as businesses have shut down.

Half of the population is now living below the poverty line as prices are skyrocketing and the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.