Najib Mikati

Forget the bad press he's getting, the new Lebanese Prime Minister is a good man.



"The Opposition has shown extreme flexibility by choosing Assad's friend", wrote Annahar's Rosana Bou monsef today. The New York times called him "Pro Syrian". Three prominent northern opposition members abandoned the opposition's consensus and didn't vote for him, but is Mr. Najib Mikati really such a bad person?

When Najib Mikati first appeared in the Tripoli political scene back in 2000, everyone knew that this billionaire businessman-turned-politician has friends in high places. His business interests with the Assad family were no secret. This gave him a sort of halo of invincibility that only added Soprano-style mystery to his soft-spoken style.

Yet to classify him as pro Syrian would be unfair. We shouldn't forget that even Mr. Hariri was at one point aligned with the Syrians, because, let's face it, they were the gate keepers.

A lot of Tripolitanians saw in Mr. Mikati a much better alternative than the vulgar Omar Karami, who was so upset at Mr. Mikati's "Trespassing" into his "territory" that he actually named him: "wazir el zift", translated "Minister of Asphalt" (lost in translation: it has a much nicer derogatory bang in Arabic).

Recently, he has been doing and saying all the right things: He was the first to suggest that the airport be named after the Late Hariri , and after being chosen as Prime minister, he stressed that the elections should be held on time and that for credibility, he won't be a candidate. He even said that he will sack the security officials and that he is bent on letting the international investigation into Hariri's murder take its full course.
Perhaps most significantly, he made the symbolic move of visiting Hariri's grave right after being named prime minister.

Even in terms of style, he seems to have that quality we all liked in the late Hariri: He is never angry in public and never uses demagogy. He's always calm, serene and he chooses his words carefully. A real manager.

Give this man a chance; he deserves it.