Mikati slams 'Aounist media' over al-Rahi phone call reports

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s press office on Sunday denied “what some Aounist media is circulating about a phone call that took place between Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and caretaker PM Najib Mikati following the patriarch’s Sunday Mass sermon.”

“What’s correct is that the premier had called the Maronite patriarch yesterday to consult over the situation, explaining to him the circumstances that necessitated calling for a cabinet session,” the press office said, noting that “the stance that the Aounist media is trying to attribute to the Maronite patriarch is totally baseless,” the press office added.

“In his call for a cabinet session tomorrow, Mr. Premier is taking into consideration the patriarch’s concerns and stance and will certainly seek to keep the government away from influences so that it maintains its independence as an executive authority, albeit in cartetaker capacity, as Patriarch al-Rahi has called for in his sermon today,” the press office said.

In his sermon, al-Rahi criticized Mikati’s call for the cabinet session and warned that "the country can do without starting sectarian debates, creating new disputes, subjecting security to threats and triggering an institutional conflict and a disagreement over powers."

Mikati has argued that the caretaker cabinet needs to approve urgent matters, including a decree related to medical services offered to cancer and dialysis patients.

The Free Patriotic Movement has meanwhile repeatedly warned against holding cabinet sessions amid the ongoing presidential vacuum, labeling such a move as an attack on the president’s powers.