Al-Adha holiday has ended on Thursday, which means that consultations in principle should resume on Friday in preparation for the binding parliamentary consultations on Monday.

Baabda sources insist so far that binding consultations will be held on time and that designating the Prime Minister will occur before talking about government formation.

Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati remains the luckiest as he has the French, as well as the Shiite duo’s approval. Sources close to the former Prime Ministers indicate that the contacts are still in place and that nothing has been settled yet. Mikati is likely to come back on Friday and consultations will start directly with him, as they were contacting him indirectly.

Mikati did not give a definitive answer so far, and has not closed the door either, waiting for answers to several questions or conditions that he has put on the table. Mikatis’ prominent question that requires an answer before approval is: Will the performance of the President of the Republic and the Head of the Free Patriotic Movement regarding authorship-related to government formation change? What are the guarantees that will make Mikati’s task easy and smooth in Baabda, unlike what happened with Saad Hariri?

Other conditions are added to this pivotal point, according to Mikati sources, saying that if he does not have the required tools to solve the hurdles, how will he work? That’s why, Mikati will demand exceptional powers and a government of a harmonized team that does not provide quotas for anyone to be able to prepare for the parliamentary elections and carry out the minimum number of reforms to keep the country steadfast.

The main sectors that require these reforms, according to Mikati’s sources, are Telecom, electricity, and support management. Are all political forces ready to grant him exceptional powers without any obstruction over the coming five months to achieve these reforms?

Anyway, in a country like Lebanon, we can sleep on something and wake up on something else. The fate of consultations on Monday cannot be decided before Saturday, and so the name they agreed on.