(MENAFN- The Peninsula) BEIRUT:Lebanon's president began consultations Thursday with lawmakers on naming a new prime minister following this month's parliamentary elections and amid increasing pressures by the United States and its Arab allies on the militant Hezbollah group.
Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri is widely expected to keep the post and President Michel Aoun began the consultations by first meeting him. By noon, many of the blocs, including the two largest in parliament, named Hariri as their favorite.
Hezbollah, which has 13 seats in the 128-member legislature, did not name its own candidate for the premiership as it has done in the past - signaling it will likely go along with Hariri's re-appointment despite tense relations between the Iran-allied Shiite group and the Western-backed Hariri.
A U.N.-backed tribunal has indicted five Hezbollah members in the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father and former premier Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah denies the charges.
Hariri is supported by the largest blocs in parliament and will most likely work on forming a national unity Cabinet, similar to the one he's been heading since 2016.
Since the morning, legislators have been going in one after another to meet Aoun, who will later in the day again formally summon Hariri and ask him to form a new Cabinet.
The consultations came a day after parliament elected Nabih Berri as its speaker, a post he has held since 1992.
A wave of sanctions by the United States and its Arab allies has targeted Hezbollah, which made gains in this month's balloting and which says it wants to play a bigger role in Lebanon's new government. Those demands could complicate Hariri's mission in the coming weeks.
MENAFN2505201800630000ID1096906891
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.