Opposition to Announce Candidate for PM's Post at Center House Meeting

March 14 opposition alliance lawmakers are scheduled to hold a meeting at the Center House to take a final stance on the person they will name for the premiership during the binding consultations at Baabda palace, informed sources said Wednesday.

While the sources did not reveal to An Nahar newspaper when the meeting will be held, high-ranking al-Mustaqbal movement officials told As Safir that the final decision on the opposition’s candidate will be made on Thursday night.

President Michel Suleiman has set next Friday and Saturday the dates for consultations with parliamentary blocs and independent lawmakers to name their candidates for the PM's post.

Suleiman will then pick the premier-designate who receives the majority's support.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is also the head of al-Mustaqbal movement, is personally following up the consultations between the opposition’s leaders to unify their stance, al-Mustaqbal's sources said.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, who visited Suleiman at Baabda palace on Tuesday, said a meeting between Hariri and al-Mustaqbal delegation in Riyadh led to the exclusion of candidates who are politicians, including Caretaker PM Najib Miqati.

Makari, who is a member of the March 14 alliance, told al-Liwaa daily published Wednesday that he briefed Suleiman on the results of the meeting in Riyadh.

As part of the coordination among the leaders of the alliance, al-Liwaa said that Hariri telephoned on Wednesday Phalange leader Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora.

Al-Mustaqbal has ruled out naming Miqati, claiming that its call for the formation of a neutral technocrat cabinet requires a person who isn't running for the parliamentary elections.

An Nahar's sources said Khaled Qabbani, Yehya Mahmasani and Marwan Ghandour are strong candidates for the post.

Miqati resigned last month over differences between cabinet members on the authority that would oversee the parliamentary polls and the rejection of the extension of the tenure of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, who handed over his post over the weekend to Brig. Gen. Roger Salem.

Rifi turned 59 – the ISF’s maximum working age – on Monday. Salem will serve as acting head of the ISF until a new director-general is appointed.