Mikati meets Rahi in bid to break presidential impasse

Caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati is calling for a national dialogue between the country’s divided political groups to agree on who should become the country’s new president.

Lebanon’s presidency has been vacant since October 2022, when the six-year term of President Michel Aoun ended.

Mikati made his comments Thursday night after meeting Cardinal Beshara al-Rahi, the head of the Maronite Catholic church, Lebanon’s largest. It is unclear where such a dialogue would take place or if any political groups would agree to participate.

“We want a president that does not provoke anyone,” Mikati said. Lawmakers have failed to elect a new head of state in more than a dozen sessions over the past two years.