Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati delivered a speech at the Beirut International Arab Book Fair, saying that the political parties must have the intention to elect a president for the republic.

Mikati urged all concerned political parties and blocs to speed up the election of a new president and for constitutional institutions to be fully established and ready to carry out their duties.

“It saddens me that someone would place the call for a cabinet meeting to be within a sectarian framework, or as if it were targeting a specific group…Do we differentiate in the contributions and assistance that we provide to one patient in comparison to another? This is unacceptable!” he said.

Mikati also considered that the adoption of reform laws must take place before the final agreement with the International Monetary Fund, in order to secure the appropriate opportunity for the promised economic recovery, and to get our country out of the circle of the long ongoing crisis.

Source: NNA