June 23 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Parliamentary consultations in Lebanon ahead of the election of the country’s new prime minister, as a result of the May legislative elections, have started this Thursday with the current acting prime minister, Nayib Mikati, as the main favorite to revalidate the position.
A total of 72 parliamentarians have already transferred their recommendation for the appointment to the president, Michel Aoun, 31 of whom have supported Mikati, while fourteen have supported Nauaf Salam and 26 have preferred not to support any candidate.
Among Mikati’s supporters are the 15 members of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, led by the Hezbollah Shiite militia party, as well as six parliamentarians from the north grouped in a coalition, according to the Lebanese daily ‘L’Orient le Jour’.
For their part, the 19 Lebanese Forces parliamentarians have chosen not to support any candidate, while Nauaf’s support includes the eight parliamentarians from the block of the leader of the Lebanese Druze community, Ualid Jumblat, and four from the Lebanese Falange.
Despite the fact that Mikati starts as the favorite, he does not have the support of the two main Christian parties in the country, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) of Aoun and the Lebanese Forces, which have already publicly announced that they will not support his candidacy.
Mikati was appointed Prime Minister in September 2021 after thirteen months of political blockade following the resignation of Hassan Diab following the explosions on August 4, 2020 in the port of the capital, Beirut, which left more than 200 dead and huge material damage.
Before his appointment, Mustafa Adib received the commission, who resigned a month later due to his inability to form a government, and also former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who tried for months to assemble an Executive and finally resigned amid tensions with Aoun to leave politics.
The May parliamentarians ended with a setback for Hezbollah and its allies, who lost the absolute majority in the legislative body, while they gave a boost to the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, and to numerous independent candidates who won seats.
The elections were considered key to the future of the country, mired in a very serious political and economic crisis aggravated by the explosions in the port of Beirut and the coronavirus pandemic, which have left part of the population mired in poverty and facing cuts. electricity and the increase in the prices of basic products.
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