Prime Minister of Malaysia. Najib Mikati is Lebanese, not Malaysian. On the exam date, the Prime Minister of Malaysia was Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who took office on 21 August 2021, succeeding Muhyiddin Yassin. A former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, shares the first name Najib, but he is a different person.

President of Egypt. In 2021 Najib Mikati headed Lebanon's government, not Egypt's. The President of Egypt in 2021 was Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in office since 2014. Lebanon has both a President (Michel Aoun in 2021) and a Prime Minister; Mikati held the second post from 10 September 2021.

President of Kazakhstan. Najib Mikati has no office in Kazakhstan. The President of Kazakhstan in 2021 was Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in office since 2019. Mikati's post in 2021 was Prime Minister of Lebanon, which he took up again with the government formed on 10 September 2021.

RAS Pre 2021, held on 27 October 2021. Question text as printed in RPSC's booklet; answer as per RPSC's final answer key.

Who is Najib Mikati?

Q: What is the answer to RAS Pre 2021 Q146?

(4). Correct — option (4), Prime Minister of Lebanon. On 10 September 2021 a new government was announced in Lebanon with Najib Mikati as Prime Minister. The BBC reported that he "becomes prime minister, a position he has held twice before". President Michel Aoun and Mikati signed the documents forming a cabinet of 24 ministers, according to the Carnegie Endowment's analysis of the same day. The government ended more than a year without a fully functioning cabinet. Prime Minister Hassan Diab had resigned days after the Beirut port explosion of 4 August 2020, and two earlier nominees, Mustapha Adib and Saad al-Hariri, did not form a government. The idea to remember: Najib Mikati = Prime Minister of Lebanon, government formed 10 September 2021 (his third time in the post).

(1)Prime Minister of Malaysia
(2)President of Egypt
(3)President of Kazakhstan
(4)Prime Minister of Lebanon

Answer

(4)

Why

Correct — option (4), Prime Minister of Lebanon.

On 10 September 2021 a new government was announced in Lebanon with Najib Mikati as Prime Minister. The BBC reported that he "becomes prime minister, a position he has held twice before".

President Michel Aoun and Mikati signed the documents forming a cabinet of 24 ministers, according to the Carnegie Endowment's analysis of the same day.

The government ended more than a year without a fully functioning cabinet. Prime Minister Hassan Diab had resigned days after the Beirut port explosion of 4 August 2020, and two earlier nominees, Mustapha Adib and Saad al-Hariri, did not form a government.

The idea to remember: Najib Mikati = Prime Minister of Lebanon, government formed 10 September 2021 (his third time in the post).

Why the others are wrong

(1)
Prime Minister of Malaysia — Najib Mikati is Lebanese, not Malaysian. On the exam date, the Prime Minister of Malaysia was Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who took office on 21 August 2021, succeeding Muhyiddin Yassin.
A former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, shares the first name Najib, but he is a different person.
(2)
President of Egypt — In 2021 Najib Mikati headed Lebanon's government, not Egypt's. The President of Egypt in 2021 was Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in office since 2014.
Lebanon has both a President (Michel Aoun in 2021) and a Prime Minister; Mikati held the second post from 10 September 2021.
(3)
President of Kazakhstan — Najib Mikati has no office in Kazakhstan. The President of Kazakhstan in 2021 was Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in office since 2019.
Mikati's post in 2021 was Prime Minister of Lebanon, which he took up again with the government formed on 10 September 2021.

Concept

In Lebanon, political power is shared among religious communities. The BBC describes the arrangement since the end of the 1975–90 civil war: the President is a Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker a Shia Muslim.

The BBC says this power-sharing system had stymied repeated attempts to form a government after Prime Minister Hassan Diab resigned in August 2020.

Mikati's cabinet of 24 ministers was formed on 10 September 2021.

RPSC's 2021 syllabus lists "Persons, Places and Institutions in News." under Current Affairs.

The new government took office during a severe crisis. The BBC reported that the Lebanese currency had lost 90% of its value in a few months, and that fuel, electricity and medicines were in short supply.

Mikati told the BBC that one of his first priorities would be to restart talks with the International Monetary Fund for a financial rescue package.

Key facts

10 September 2021: a new Lebanese government was formed with Najib Mikati as Prime Minister.
The cabinet had 24 ministers; President Michel Aoun and Mikati signed the documents forming it.
Mikati had been Prime Minister twice before, in 2005 and from 2011 to 2014.
His predecessor, Hassan Diab, resigned after the Beirut port explosion of 4 August 2020.
Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim.

The four offices in 2021

Prime Minister of Lebanon→Najib Mikati (from 10 September 2021)

Prime Minister of Malaysia→Ismail Sabri Yaakob (from 21 August 2021)

President of Egypt→Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (since 2014)

President of Kazakhstan→Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (since 2019)

Office-holders as of the RAS Prelims 2021 (27 October 2021). Sources: BBC and Carnegie Endowment (10 September 2021); Wikipedia for the other office-holders.

Study next

Lebanon's confessional power-sharing systemBeirut port explosion (4 August 2020)West Asian heads of government in 2021Lebanon's economic crisis and the IMFIndia–Lebanon relations

Common traps

President versus Prime Minister: in Lebanon, Michel Aoun was President and Najib Mikati Prime Minister in 2021.
Similar names: Najib Mikati of Lebanon is a different person from Najib Razak, a former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Returning office-holders: Mikati's 2021 appointment was his third term as Prime Minister, not his first.

A question can name a person in the news and ask the office and country they hold.

A question can also name a country and ask who became its head of government, or ask whom that person succeeded.

Related PYQs

RPSC_2024_PRE_GS_Q1052024Open & attempt →

Recently Yamandu Orsi has been elected as the President of which country ?

(1) Paraguay
(2) Uruguay
(3) Venezuela
(4) Guyana

Answer(2)

Both link a person newly chosen for high office to a country. That question asks of which country Yamandu Orsi has been elected President (RPSC's key: Uruguay); this one asks what office Najib Mikati held in 2021, with the country part of each option.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Najib Mikati formed a new government in Lebanon in September 2021. Whom did he succeed as Prime Minister?
- (a)Saad al-Hariri
- (b)Hassan Diab
- (c)Michel Aoun
- (d)Mustapha Adib
Answer(2) — Hassan Diab resigned after the Beirut port explosion of August 2020 and Mikati's government followed in September 2021. Options (1) and (4) were nominated after Diab but did not form a government, and option (3) was Lebanon's President.
practice — not a real PYQ
Under Lebanon's power-sharing arrangement, as described by the BBC, the Prime Minister belongs to which community?
- (a)Maronite Christian
- (b)Shia Muslim
- (c)Sunni Muslim
- (d)Druze
Answer(3) — The BBC describes the President as a Christian, the Prime Minister as a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker as a Shia Muslim. Option (2) is the Speaker's community, and options (1) and (4) are not the Prime Minister's.