Report: Mikati to call for cabinet session next week

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati will call for a caretaker cabinet session and the date may be next week, MTV reported on Tuesday.

Following talks with Mikati that tackled the issue of hospitals’ overdue payments, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad had said that “there is a problem regarding the increase that occurred to the Health Ministry’s hospitalization budget, seeing as it is necessary to issue a decree… to be able to implement the increases on fees.”

“Due to the absence of cabinet sessions, this decree was not issued, and accordingly the Finance Ministry informed us that it is not possible to pay these overdue fees, which threatens the continuity of offering hospitalization services to patients,” Abiad added.

The cabinet has not convened since the expiry of Michel Aoun’s presidential term on October 31.

The Free Patriotic Movement has meanwhile warned against convening the caretaker cabinet amid a presidential vacuum.