Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Thursday pledged not to run in the future parliamentary elections or support any candidates.
Deputy Prime Minister Zeina Akar and the other 18 members of Cabinet also signed up to Mr Diab's pledge not to run in the next election.
The current administration is a departure in Lebanon where the bulk of ministers are usually also MPs.
In recent years, discussions have been raised about having a government not also elected to parliament as it prevents one body overseeing the work of the other. However, many senior figures – including former prime minister and Future Movement head Saad Hariri or former foreign minister and Free Patriotic Movement head Gibran Bassil – served multiple times in both chambers.
No elections are scheduled until 2022 although some have suggested that a vote should be held early given mass anger on the streets since October.
Mr Diab stated his Cabinet's plan to abstain from standing on January 21.
“There are no MPs [in the government], and no candidates for the next parliamentary elections," he said.
His would be "a government of specialists that will only be held accountable to the language of science, reason and expertise and the interest of the nation," he added.
Months of anti-government protests have rocked Lebanon, with demonstrators calling for a change in political leadership.
The Lebanese parliament passed a vote of confidence in the cabinet this week, with just 84 of the chamber's 128 MPs attending the parliamentary session as protesters raged and blocked roads outside.
Sixty-three MPs voted in favour of the new government with one abstention and 20 against.
Mr Diab, a former professor at the American University of Beirut, presented his choices for the new government in late January. The prime minister was selected after Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned at the end of October, two weeks after the nationwide protests erupted.
The letter on Thursday came as Lebanon's President Michel Aoun asked ministers to start working on the 2021 state budget, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said after the new cabinet's first meeting at Baabda Palace.
The heavily indebted state is facing a financial crisis and must quickly decide whether to repay maturing foreign currency debt on schedule, including a $1.2 billion Eurobond due on March 9.
Ahead of the Cabinet session, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said that there were several options open to the government over the repayment.
“We will continue discussions in order to make the right decision,” Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said.
Imad Salamey, a political analyst in Lebanon, said the situation was unprecedented.
"This is unprecedented since the 2005 government headed by Mikati," he said.
"The 2005 Mikati government was established as an interm government with the sole purpose of preparing for elections.
"This government is attempting to gain the confidence of the public by presenting itself as having no political ambitions other than confronting current crisis.
"The 2005 government organised elections within three months after its formations, there are three more years of elections ahead of the current government.
"So it is presenting itself as sustainable and non partisan while it represents only Hezbollah and allies."
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
