Lebanon s President Michel Aoun began meetings with parliamentarians on Thursday to name a prime minister, after weeks of wrangling delayed agreement on a new government that could work to lift the country from financial crisis.
Leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri, a former premier, is on course to be designated again at the formal consultations with parliamentary blocs, sources say. Still, he would face major challenges to navigate Lebanon s fractious power-sharing political landscape and form a cabinet.
Any new government will have to contend with a financial meltdown worsening by the day, a COVID-19 outbreak and the fallout of the massive explosion at Beirut port that killed nearly 200 people in August.
Former colonial power France sought in August to rally Lebanon s sectarian leaders to tackle the unprecedented crisis, but they have yet to manage the first task: agreeing a new government swiftly.
Hariri, long aligned with Western and Gulf states, has presented himself as the candidate to build a new cabinet that can revive French efforts. Paris had set out a roadmap for enacting reforms to unlock foreign aid Lebanon badly needs.
Thursday s consultations were postponed from last week amid political rifts. Aoun is required to choose the candidate with the most support from parliament s lawmakers, among which Iran-backed Shi ite Hezbollah and its allies have a majority.
With Hariri expected to get enough votes on Thursday barring any last minute hitches, he would be named prime minister for a fourth time, in a country drowning in debt. His coalition government was toppled late last year as mass protests erupted against the ruling elite.
