The President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, has not made a decision to set a definitive date for holding binding parliamentary consultations to name the prime minister tasked with forming the new government. He confirmed today that the democratic process will continue in the coming days through parliamentary consultations to assign a figure to form the new government, which is expected to gain the confidence of the Parliament and begin working on urgent issues. However, he did not set any date.
According to information, the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who remains the most likely candidate for the premiership, has informed Aoun that he will not return to the governmental palace without a prior agreement on passing three files by the end of the term and before the new president's mandate. Mikati, according to his close aides, fears a presidential vacuum and does not want to manage a "bankruptcy," which is why he requested a commitment to pass the reforms and recovery plan to launch the understanding with the International Monetary Fund, and to place the electricity plan on the path to implementation. Without this, he considers his return to the premiership merely a waste of time and effort, thus leaving the ball in the court of the presidency.
Visitors to Baabda do not expect, in this context, an invitation to consultations soon, pointing out the difficulty in choosing a leading Sunni figure to be tasked with forming the government, especially since President Najib Mikati has not yet made his decision on the matter and remains hesitant to take on this task again in light of the results from the parliamentary elections, which reflected a fragmentation of the Sunni vote that is supposed to have the primary say in the assignment, alongside the divergences highlighted by the council elections.
Regarding the consultations being conducted by the Baabda Palace as a precursor to the assignment and to facilitate the formation process, these visitors report a significant division regarding Prime Minister Mikati's name, which may be causing him to hesitate. The Forces, the Kataeb, the Change movement, and the Free Patriotic Movement do not want Mikati, while Hezbollah, Amal, the Marada Movement, and the Akkar MPs support him.
Concerning the shape of the new government, they point out that the consultations conducted have shown a significant division on the matter. The parties want a political government due to their fear of reaching a vacuum in the presidency, while the opposition is in favor of bringing in a government of technicians and specialists capable of reviving the country.
