Beiru, Oct. 22, (dpa/GNA) – Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun has started consultations on Thursday with the various parliamentary blocs in a bid to designate a new premier to lead the country through multiple crises, the presidential palace said.
After Aoun names the premier, the candidate will start efforts to form a new government.
Under the constitution, the president has to consult with the different blocs in parliament before calling on the premier to form a new government.
The consultations are expected to end later on Thursday.
Political observers believe that former prime minister Saad Hariri will be named and will start immediately to work on forming a government mainly made up of experts that will deal with the economic crisis, the worst Lebanon has seen since the civil war ended 30 years ago.
On September 26, Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Adib stepped down, citing political infighting.
2He was named by Aoun after his predecessor, Hassan Diab, resigned in the wake of the massive explosion at Beirut’s port on August 4.
Lebanon’s president should be a Christian Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliamentary speaker a Shiite Muslim, according to an unwritten pact to establish a balance in the multi-confessional state that dates back to 1943.
GNA