30 Facts About Najib Mikati

Najib Azmi Mikati is a Lebanese politician and businessman, and three-time Prime Minister of Lebanon whose current term began in September 2021.

Najib Mikati serves as the resigned prime minister of a cabinet that when assembled with a majority of its members acts as President of Lebanon for emergency situations, and this since the end of the term of president Michel Aoun as of October 2022.

Najib Mikati previously served as Prime Minister from June 2011 to February 2014 and from April to July 2005.

Najib Mikati served as Minister of Public Works and Transport from December 1998 to 2003.

Najib Mikati was a member of parliament for Tripoli from 2000 to 2005 and was re-elected in 2009 and 2018.

Najib Mikati has been subject of multiple corruption accusations, and was charged with illegitimate gains.

Najib Mikati was born on 24 November 1955 and hails from a prominent Sunni Muslim family based in Tripoli.

Najib Mikati graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1980 with a Master of Business Administration degree.

Najib Mikati attended a summer school program held at Harvard and the French business school INSEAD.

In 1979, Najib's older brother Taha Mikati founded Arabian Construction Company, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, and which became one of the largest construction companies in the Middle East.

Najib Mikati co-founded the telecommunications company Investcom with his brother Taha in 1982.

Najib Mikati is a major shareholder in the South African telecommunications operator MTN, owner of the high-end fashion brand "Faconnable", and investor in transport, gas and oil.

Najib Mikati has investments in real estate, notably in London, New York and Monaco.

Later Najib Mikati was made transportation minister and became an ally of then Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, supporting the extension of his term in 2004.

Najib Mikati is considered a compromise figure, not being close to any particular political bloc.

Najib Mikati is one of the leaders of the Sunni community.

Najib Mikati himself denies any closeness to Hezbollah and describes himself as a liberal, emphasizing his background in business to reassure the United States.

Najib Mikati was a perennial candidate for Lebanon's prime ministry since 2000, finally taking the office upon the resignation of Omar Karami on 13 April 2005.

Najib Mikati is the leader of the solidarity bloc, which has had two seats in the Lebanese parliament since 2004.

Najib Mikati created the centrist movement and ideology in Lebanon and the Arab world, for which he has held many international conferences in Lebanon.

On 24 January 2011, the March 8 alliance, specifically Hezbollah, Michel Aoun and Walid Jumblatt, nominated Najib Mikati to become prime minister.

Najib Mikati succeeded Saad Hariri, whose government was brought down by the resignation of ten of the alliance's ministers and one presidential appointee on 12 January 2011, resulting from the collapse of the Saudi-Syrian initiative to reach a compromise on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

On 13 June 2011, Najib Mikati became the Prime Minister of Lebanon for the second time.

On 22 March 2013, Najib Mikati resigned from office, due to "intensifying pressure between the pro-Assad and anti-Assad camps" and the Lebanese president accepted his resignation on 23 March 2013.

Najib Mikati was designated to fill the role on 26 July 2021.

Najib Mikati declared that he wants a purely technocratic government, without representatives of political parties, in order to carry out the economic reforms expected by Lebanon's donors.

On September 10,2021, Najib Mikati was able to form a government of 24 members after long negotiations with President Aoun, and the various political parties.

Najib Mikati announced that he wanted to call on the solidarity of the Arab world to try to get the country out of the crisis it was going through and to negotiate with the IMF.

Najib Mikati was again named prime minister designate on 23 June 2022 with 54 votes against Nawaf Salam's 28 to form a new cabinet until the remainder of President Michel Aoun's term.

In October 2021, Najib Mikati was named in the Pandora Papers leak.