Saad Hariri appointed Lebanese Prime Minister

Lebanese Sunni leader Saad Hariri has won enough votes in Thursday's parliamentary consultations to be appointed the next prime minister, according to Reuters news agency and local media. Hariri is facing the arduous task of forming a cabinet in a country that is still recovering from the consequences of a massive explosion that ravaged the capital in August. The country is in the throes of financial collapse, political infighting and widespread anger at the ruling elite in Beirut.

"Lebanon could no longer tolerate the delay, and the Lebanese are awaiting the formation of a cabinet with a clear reform plan. The general atmosphere means international positions and efforts to help Lebanon. These efforts could only translate into the formation of a rescue cabinet," said Tamman Salam, former Lebanese Prime Minister, on Thursday.

As consultations continued at the presidential palace, former Prime Minister Hariri, a Western ally and the only candidate on Thursday, had won the support of 47 legislators so far, with the Reuters count in its cradle.

Lebanon's president, Michel Aoun, must choose the candidate with the greatest support from the legislators, among whom Hezbollah, backed by Iran, and its political allies have a majority. 

The new executive will have to address the worst crisis the country has experienced since the civil war of 1975-1990. A banking crisis, monetary collapse, growing poverty and crippling state debts, together with the health crisis caused by the coronavirus and the aftermath of the major explosion in the port of Beirut in August that killed nearly 200 people and caused millions of dollars in damage, have brought Lebanon to the brink of the abyss.

This appointment follows the resignation of Mustapha Adib on 26 September owing to the impossibility of forming a government. Mr Adib, who was previously ambassador to Germany, was appointed head of government at the end of August in order to set up a new executive to govern national affairs. The last Lebanese Administration, led by Hassan Diab, resigned following the aforementioned event in the port of the capital on 4 August.

If Hariri succeeds in creating the next government, he will take over the post of prime minister for the fourth time. Hariri is the son of the assassinated former prime minister Rafik Hariri and is the highest profile Sunni Muslim political leader in Lebanon.

Lebanon's political system assigns the post of prime minister to a Sunni Muslim, and Hariri's return will be greeted with dismay by many anti-system demonstrators who have called for an end to the country's power-sharing system.

Sunni leader Hariri's last coalition government was overthrown almost exactly a year ago when protests took over the country, furious with Lebanon's ruling elite. 

The protests began against plans to charge taxes for calls made in Whatsapp, but quickly turned into demonstrations against endemic political corruption and the economic crisis. Two weeks after the start of these protests, Hariri tendered his resignation earlier to President Michel Aoun. 

The cry that flooded the streets of different Lebanese cities a year ago, "Killon yani Killon" ("All of them, we mean all of them"), drew attention to a Lebanese political class mired in corruption and cronyism.

Now, a year after these marches against the political class, and with a hot summer with mass demonstrations against the politicians, the then president, Hariri, is returning to the presidential palace.

This Tuesday, the leader of the Lebanese forces, Samir Geagea, announced that his party will not back Hariri's candidacy. "The real reason for the party's decision not to nominate Hariri as prime minister is that it is not taking part in any joint initiative with the trio in power", he said, referring to the president's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Michel Aoun; AMAL, led by the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri; and the Shiite militia party, Hezbollah.