Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati retorted to the Free Patriotic Movement’s criticism on Wednesday by accusing the party led by MP Gebran Bassil of manipulating the media in an attempt to divert attention from its obstructive role in the presidential election.
“The government is doing everything possible for the proper functioning of state institutions pending the election of a president,” said a statement issued by Mikati’s office.
The FPM has criticized the caretaker government for reportedly allowing the dollarization of aid to Syrian refugees, which will encourage them to remain in Lebanon, and for not taking a decisive stance with regard to the international arrest warrant issued by the French judiciary against Central Bank Governor Riad Salame in corruption cases.
Mikati indicated that instead of “making fiery media manifestations and engaging in rhetoric aimed at misleading (public opinion), the FPM, through the Justice Minister (Henry Khoury), should have provided the government with a legal opinion about the measures that could be taken against Salame.”
FPM ministers have been boycotting ministerial meetings under the pretext that the caretaker government is encroaching on the president’s prerogatives.
The statement rejected accusations that Mikati has authorized the dollarization of aid to Syrian refugees at the request of international organizations, stressing that the “distribution of aid in dollars started under the previous government, and the FPM is fully aware of that.”
On blaming Mikati for playing a role in placing Lebanon on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the statement said: “It is due to the cumulative effect of past practices, especially during the years when the Free Patriotic Movement was an essential component of the government under the mandate of President Michel Aoun, and in successive governments and parliaments before that.”
The statement finally called on the FPM to cooperate with the government “instead of making baseless accusations.”
