Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired a meeting of the "ministerial committee tasked with addressing the ramifications of the financial crisis on public sector functioning" at the Grand Serail, focusing on the open strike by employees and workers in the public sector.
Participants in the meeting included ministers from the caretaker government: Education and Higher Education Minister Abbas Halabi, Justice Minister Henry Khoury, Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, Minister of State for Administrative Development Najla Riachi, Minister of Social Affairs Hector Hajjar, Minister of Industry George Bouchikian, Minister of Interior and Municipalities Bassam Mawlawi, Health Minister Firas Abiad, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, Minister of Labor Mustafa Bayram, and Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyeh, along with Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Judge Mahmoud Makiyeh, Head of the Civil Service Council Nasrine Mashmouchi, and Director General of the Ministry of Finance George Maaraoui.
At the start of the meeting, Mikati emphasized that "despite the difficult financial reality for the treasury, we have sought and continue to seek to provide all means of resilience and sustainability for public sector workers, who form the backbone of the state. The strike, while legitimate and justified, is not a sustainable solution as it paralyzes all state functions and halts revenues capable of improving social conditions and increasing salaries, thus keeping us trapped in the same cycle."
He stated, "In our last meeting, we made a series of decisions appropriate to the financial reality and available capabilities, and today we will try to approach new ideas in the hope of reaching an acceptable solution for everyone, but meeting the demands all at once is impossible and would lead to a broader collapse of the situation, and we are not prepared for that."
