Aoun and Mikati have met nine times since the latter became premier-designate. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — An unpublicized meeting took place Saturday between Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun, L’Orient-Le Jour’s political correspondent reported.
Here’s what we know:
• It was the ninth meeting between the pair since Mikati’s designation on July 26 to form the next cabinet.
• Earlier Saturday, Aoun expressed a positive outlook on the prospects for government formation. “The path of forming the future government is clear, and I hope that white smoke will soon appear,” the official Twitter account of the presidency quoted him as saying.
• By Saturday evening, the dollar selling price had fallen below LL20,000 on the parallel market. During a radio interview broadcast on Saturday morning, central bank Governor Riad Salameh connected fluctuations in the national currency’s value to the political outlook in the country. “We have seen recently that market prices are affected by the political situation,” he said, describing the lira as “hostage to government formation and reforms.”
• Lebanon has been without an empowered cabinet since Hassan Diab’s government resigned in the aftermath of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion. Mikati is the third prime minister-designate to attempt to form a government since. His predecessors both stepped down from the role after failing to agree a cabinet lineup with Aoun.