The Lebanese Parliament has decided that the caretaker government, headed by Najib Mikati, can be handed the powers of the presidency amid the leadership vacuum, according to constitutional principles.
Former President Michel Aoun sent a letter to parliament on Sunday, 24 hours before the end of his term, asking MPs to withdraw confidence in Mikati’s government. He argued that it has no legitimacy and should not assume the duties of the presidency.
Parliament held a session to discuss the letter on Thursday. Some MPs believed that the correspondence was pointless given that the Lebanese constitution gives the government, even a caretaker one, the right to run the country in the light of a presidential vacuum. They stressed that the priority is to elect a president, not discuss governments.—AN
