Lebanon cabinet formed after 13-month wait: official

Beirut - Announcement followed meeting between Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun

A Lebanese government has been formed, the presidency announced Friday, ending a 13-month impasse as the country grapples with one of the worst crises in its history.

A new cabinet was a condition for much-needed international assistance but it remains to be seen whether it can deliver requested reforms and rescue Lebanon from bankruptcy.

The announcement, which followed a meeting between Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun, came after months horse-trading between Lebanon's main political factions.

Mikati, Lebanon's prime minister for the third time and the country's richest man, made a statement from the presidency in which he vowed to leave no stone unturned in efforts to rescue the country.

"We will make use of every second to call international bodies and ensure the basic everyday life needs," he said, adding his government would also turn to Arab countries for help.

Mikati, who was designated as prime minister in July after his two predecessors failed to clinch an agreement on a new line-up, unveiled his list of ministers.

The newcomers include many technocrats but each minister was endorsed by one or several of the factions that have dominated Lebanese politics since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Protracted efforts to agree on a government have been viewed with scepticism at best by the public, with many suspecting that the same political parties that have ruled Lebanon for decades were unlikely to yield radical change.

The country's hereditary political barons have so far appeared impervious to international pressure, which intensified after a deadly explosion at Beirut port on August 4, 2020.

One of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions killed more 200 people and was widely blamed on government incompetence and corruption.

Same cooks

Sami Nader, a Lebanese political analyst, argued there was little hope for a breakthrough if the dynamics that prevailed during the cabinet line-up negotiations remained in place.

"The continuation of quota politics and bickering over every reform and decision would mean no departure from what the caretaker government was able to do," he said.

"There is practically only one door on which to knock for this government and that is the International Monetary Fund, because there is no other way out of the crisis," Nader said.