Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Thursday that slow progress has been achieved toward forming a Cabinet, stressing that donor states would not help the country unless it helped itself.
“Today’s meeting was a positive step forward,” Mikati said after meeting Aoun.
“Today we made progress ... even if the progress was slow. But we are persevering, and insistent on forming the government,” he noted.
Mikati said there was one message: “If you Lebanese aren’t helping each other, you want us to help you?”
“This is where I started my meeting with his Excellency the President and I told him the government must be formed.”
Earlier on Monday, Mikati said he had hoped for a quicker pace in the formation of the government and that his efforts would not be open-ended.
According to Reuters, Lebanon has been without a government since Prime Minister Hassan Diab quit in the aftermath of the catastrophic Aug. 4, 2020, port explosion, with politicians failing to agree even as the country has been paralyzed by a major financial crisis.
While Western donors have provided humanitarian aid to Lebanese - a conference hosted by France on Wednesday raised $370 million - they have demanded Lebanese leaders set about reforms before assistance is directed to the state.
