The following statement was issued by the media office of Prime Minister Najib Mikati:
What Deputy Jibran Bassil stated today regarding the necessity for all ministers to sign the decrees, as well as his objection to multiple signatures from the Prime Minister, constitutes an illegal opinion rooted in a loathed political backdrop, contradicting clear constitutional texts.
As for his claim about the use of a minister's signature and citing it from letters addressed to the Prime Minister's office to be included in the body of the decrees, this is a fabrication of Mr. Bassil's political imagination, who is attempting, by all means, for revealed political objectives, to attribute matters to the government, represented by its head, that have no connection to reality.
Corrections in the draft decrees are executed within the body of the decrees themselves, following Cabinet Decision No. (1) dated 18/1/2023, which requested the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to issue draft decrees according to the circular issued by the Prime Minister No. /36/ dated 5/12/2022, and thus make the necessary amendments to the incoming draft decrees, particularly in the project structures, as well as in the signatures section, which should only include the signatures of the relevant ministers and two signatures from the Prime Minister without any other signatures.
Regarding Mr. Bassil's allegations that Prime Minister Mikati has bypassed the presidency, this statement is rejected. It is more fitting for Mr. Bassil and his political team and deputies to take the initiative to fulfill their duty in electing a new president for the republic, instead of following a path of obstruction that has become a hallmark of this team. It is worth noting that Prime Minister Mikati emphasizes in all his statements that the entry point to a solution is the election of a new president for the republic.
This clarification was necessary.
