BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati said on Friday he still had to overcome major hurdles to forming a new government, amid a deep economic and political crisis that has left the country with a caretaker administration for a year.

Mikati, the third person picked to try to form a government since last year, told Saudi-owned television network Al Hadath that the situation in Lebanon remained grave.

Forming a government is a necessary first step to secure international support to help pull Lebanon out of its deepest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. The currency has collapsed, while medicines and fuel are running out.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a heavily armed Shia movement back by Iran and under US sanctions, has said Iranian fuel shipments were on their way to help ease shortages.

Asked about Nasrallah’s comments, Mikati said he was against anything that would harm Lebanon’s interests.

“We will not let anyone lead us to new sanctions,” he said.

“But I tell the critics and the Arab League give us a candle, we can’t say no to the shipment without having an alternative.”

The prime minister’s post is held by a Sunni according to Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Lebanon has been run by the caretaker government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who resigned with his cabinet after a massive Beirut port blast ripped through the capital a year ago.

Meanwhile, the head of one of Lebanon’s most powerful security agencies ordered his officers to stand firm in the face of a national crisis that could be protracted, warning of the chaos that would ensue if the state collapsed.

Major General Abbas Ibrahim, in a message to General Security staff received by Reuters on Friday, said state institutions had been undermined by “the great collapse”.

He was referring to a financial crisis that has gripped Lebanon for two years and plumbed new depths this month as supplies of imported fuel ran out, forcing even essential services to scale back or shut down and sparking numerous security incidents.

The meltdown has deepened international concerns about Lebanon, a country pieced back together after a 1975-90 civil war and still deeply riven by sectarian and factional rivalries.

Ibrahim noted the impact of the crisis on personnel at General Security, an intelligence and security agency whose responsibilities include control of Lebanon’s border crossings.

“The crisis that Lebanon is going through may be prolonged. Your duty is steadfastness and standing as a barrier to protect your country and your people.” he told staff.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2021