President Michel Aoun on Wednesday postponed the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier to October 22.
A statement issued by the Presidency said Aoun took his decision “at the request of some parliamentary blocs, after difficulties emerged.”
These difficulties “require working on solutions,” the statement added.
The consultations had been initially scheduled for Thursday, October 15.
Speaker Nabih Berri reacted swiftly to the move, saying that he is “against the postponement of consultations, even for a single day.”
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil for his part tweeted that the decision “will not change the FPM’s “stance,” in an apparent reference to the movement’s refusal to endorse ex-PM Saad Hariri’s nomination.
“To all those philosophizing, speculating and making bets: Despite our respect for the President’s decision to postpone the parliamentary consultations, it will not change our stance,” he said.
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