The financial crisis in Lebanon, which the World Bank described as one of the most severe recessions in modern history, was exacerbated by a political crisis that has been going on for more than a year before Mikati formed a government with President Michel Aoun..
The Lebanese currency has lost 90% of its value, three-quarters of the population has slipped into poverty, and daily life has become a continuous suffering due to the lack of basic commodities such as fuel and medicine..
Mikati, whose government is focused on reviving talks with the International Monetary Fund, has vowed to ensure that elections are held without delay, and Western governments have urged it to do so..
After he met with the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and the representative of the Arab Group in it, Mahmoud Mohieldin, on Tuesday, Mikati said that his government had completed the financial statements required to be a starting point for cooperation with the IMF..
A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, after the meeting in Beirut with Muhyiddin, quoted Mikati as saying, “We hope to complete the cooperation program before the end of this year.”“.
But a dispute over the investigation into last year’s Beirut port explosion, which killed more than 200 people and devastated large parts of the capital, threatens to topple this government..
Ministers with ties to politicians whom investigative judge Tariq al-Bitar asked to question in the explosion last week demanded that he be removed from the investigation..
Then Mikati said that the government will not hold another meeting until an agreement is reached to solve this problem.
The Minister of Culture, Mohamed Mortada, who was reported to have criticized Al-Bitar’s handling of the investigation and described it as politically motivated, told reporters that he would attend any government meeting that Mikati called for..
Al-Murtada denied reports that he demanded the dismissal of Al-Bitar and said that he only made some observations on his performance.
Last Thursday, Beirut witnessed the worst street violence in more than a decade when seven people were killed as crowds were on their way to protests against Qadi al-Bitar called by the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement..
The bloodshed brought back memories of the civil war that raged in the country between 1975 and 1990..
The elections, which were scheduled for May, were brought forward to avoid holding them during the month of Ramadan.
When the new parliament is formed, Mikati’s government will act as a caretaker government until a vote of confidence is taken on a new prime minister tasked with forming a government.
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