86 Votes for Hariri on 1st Day of Consultations as Baath, SSNP Abstain

The binding parliamentary consultations with elected President Michel Aoun for the designation of a new premier kicked off on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Baabda.

Caretaker PM Tammam Salam arrived first at the palace signaling the start of the consultations.

Several deputies named Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri for the post in the morning round of consultations, including Salam, ex-PMs Najib Miqati and Fouad Saniora, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari and the MPs Butros Harb, Michel el-Murr and Nayla Tueini.

The blocs that named Hariri were the Mustaqbal, Change and Reform and Lebanese Forces.

“I told President Aoun that the constitution and the laws must be respected and I hoped the essential principles will return to political life, seeing as no political system can function without an opposition,” Harb said after the consultations with Aoun.

He also hoped the ministerial policy statement of the government will be “clear.”

In the second round of consultations, Hariri's nomination was endorsed by the blocs of the Kataeb Party, the Marada Movement, MP Walid Jumblat's Democratic Gathering and by the MPs Michel Pharaon, Talal Arslan and Ahmed Karami.

“I nominated ex-PM Hariri for the premiership and called for facilitating the formation of the next cabinet in order to immunize unity,” Pharaon said after the consultations.

Kataeb chief MP Sami Gemayel meanwhile said the bloc nominated Hariri for the premiership “in light of the moderation he represents in a region that is witnessing extremism and bigotry.”

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh did not accompany his bloc to the consultations, in what some observers perceived as a protest move, although the constitution does not stipulate the presence of all members of a certain bloc during consultations.

The two-member bloc of the Baath Party meanwhile abstained from nominating anyone for the premiership as the two-member bloc of the Syrian Social National Party said it “informed the president of its stance on the premiership.” It was not immediately clear how SSNP's move would be interpreted in terms of votes.

Several TV networks said Hariri had received 86 votes out of 126 possible ones by the end of Wednesday's consultations.

The consultations will continue on Thursday.

The daily An Nahar said that Speaker Nabih Berri will be the last person to name a candidate in the name of his bloc as per his request. This matter has been coordinated between the Protocol officer of the parliament and the relevant departments at the presidential palace.

Berri requested to be the last so he won't have to visit the presidential palace three times -- first as a Speaker, another as head of the Development and Liberation bloc and lastly to be briefed by Aoun on the outcome of consultations, according to the daily.

On Tuesday, al-Mustaqbal and the Change and Reform blocs had formally announced that they would nominate al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri.

On Monday, Aoun was elected president of the republic. His election ended a presidential void that lasted around two and a half years. His chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from Hariri in mid-October.

Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.

In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country.

Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."