Mikati says will continue efforts to form a gov amidst reports that Aoun isn’t leaving

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Tuesday that he will “continue all the efforts aimed at forming the new government despite the obstacles.”

“All those concerned must meanwhile support these efforts and refrain from continuing to put conditions and obstacles in a blatant attempt to achieve political gains whose timing is inappropriate and which cannot be accepted,” Mikati added.

“Let us all cooperate to resolve the governmental file in a manner that contributes to establishing further political stability and avoiding futile and useless debates, especially that the constitution is clear in all files and there is no room for misinterpreting the texts,” the PM-designate went on to say.

Aoun not leaving peacefully

According to observers president Michel Aoun and his son- in- law , FPM’s Gebran Bassil are the ones setting impossible conditions for Mikati because they are already in plan B.

Aoun again confirmed today that he may not be leaving Baabda presidential palace when his term expires if there is no new government in place and reconfirmed that a caretaker cabinet cannot assume presidential powers in case a president is not elected to replace him by October 31 .

Retired top Security official General Khaled Hemaded predicted last month during an interview that the aging Aoun ( 88) is not planning to leave the Baabda presidential palace when his term expires on October 31, 2022 and it seems that it took Aoun less than one month to prove Hemade’s predictions

Aoun’s comments were made during an interview with al Akbar newspaper , a pro Hezbollah publication

His comments come after Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rai rejected any link between the type of government that Lebanon now has and the presidential election and urged Aoun to leave Baabda peacefully .

Rai said: “We want a president who unites and does not have personal interests, and to be impartial and sovereign .”

On the other hand Aoun , according to observers wants Bassil , the most despised politician in Lebanon to replace him and In the event he doesn’t succeed he will issue a decree appointing him as a PM at the eleventh hour on the day his term expires