Lebanon: New government wins parliament’s confidence vote

After a marathon session, Lebanon’s parliament endorsed Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s pledges to halt Lebanon’s economic crisis.

Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanon’s new government on Monday won a vote of confidence from parliament, after vowing to swiftly resume International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout talks and get cracking on a host of reforms to lift the country out of its worsening economic crisis.

Some 85 lawmakers gave Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government their vote of confidence, while 15 voted against it.

One hundred out of a possible 117 parliamentarians attended Monday’s session, which lasted over eight hours. Among those absent was former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who heads the Future Movement.