Mikati condemns 'sectarian exploitation' of presidential void, calls for swift election

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called Thursday anew for the election of a president in order to put an end to the "sectarian exploitation" of the presidential vacuum.

The Free Patriotic Movement ministers have been boycotting the caretaker cabinet sessions, claiming that cabinet can not convene without a president.

The party said in a statement Wednesday that the normalization of the presidential vacuum might expand to first-class positions that have traditionally been occupied by Christians.

"This threatens national partnership," the statement said, a day after Mikati accused those opposing cabinet meetings of "seeking to spread vacuum."

"Elect a president as soon as possible," the prime minister said, adding that cabinet is not responsible for the presidential vacuum.

"Stop the negativity, the obstruction, and the sectarian incitement," he lashed out.

Mired in a crippling economic crisis since 2019, Lebanon has been governed by a caretaker cabinet for more than a year and without a president for more than eight months.

No group has a clear majority in parliament and lawmakers have failed 12 times to elect a new president, amid bitter divisions.