Najib Mikati

Lebanon Spent Nearly Two of Last Four and a Half Years Without a Government

There has been some movement in recent days on the cabinet formation stalemate. Saad Hariri agreed to join a national unity government with Hizbullah, a welcome development after months of deadlock. How many months precisely? Nearly ten. Tammam Salam was appointed PM-designate on April 6, 2013. As you will recall, Lebanon’s previous premier Najib Mikati … Continue reading →

Mikati’s Resignation Signals the Collapse of the Lebanese Idea, Renewed Civil War, and the End of the World as We Know It

The media reaction to the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati last week has been puzzling, from my perspective. CNN says that the resignation “throws Lebanon’s politics in turmoil” while The Economist warns the Lebanese to “be careful,” as “Lebanon’s delicate sectarian system is in danger of falling apart.” Not to second-guess the propensity of the … Continue reading →

NOW Lebanon Editorial Critical of Saad Hariri Mysteriously Disappears…

Mustapha over at Beirut Spring alerted me to a good editorial over at NOW Lebanon this morning, which criticized Saad Hariri’s lackluster leadership and praised Najib Mikati. Because of the unusual editorial line expressed by the piece, I joked that it was only a matter of time before “NOW Lebanon” became “WAS Lebanon”. It didn’t … Continue reading →

Syria’s Man in Lebanon Goes Downtown

Here’s a quick postmortem I’ve written for Al-Monitor on the very strange news of former minister Michel Samaha’s detainment yesterday by Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces. First paragraphs below, then much more after the jump. Three Reasons Why Syria’s Man in Lebanon Was Arrested (Al-Monitor) What to make of today’s arrest of former Lebanese minister Michel … Continue reading →

The Number One Sunni in Lebanon

Shortly after Najib Miqati became prime minister of Lebanon early last year, he went on Marcel Ghanem’s venerable political talk show, Kalam el-Nas.

Marcel asked him to respond to his opponents’ critique that he was not “Sunni enough” to assume the post from which Saad Hariri had been unceremoniously ejected by Hizbullah and its allies. Miqati responded with a hysterical tirade… Continue reading →