Aoun schedules new PM consultations for Monday

President Joseph Aoun has announced that the binding parliamentary consultations to pick a new PM will be held on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the Presidency, Aoun will meet with the parliamentary blocs and independent MPs from 8:00 am till around 5:30 pm.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has expressed his willingness to lead the new government. Media reports meanwhile said that Mikati will stay as premier until the parliamentary elections.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has meanwhile said that he supports picking MP Ashraf Rifi or MP Fouad Makhzoumi for the post.

Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect Aoun as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

The vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun, no relation to former President Michel Aoun, was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild.

The next government will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.

Lebanon is in its sixth year of an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese. The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.

The country's leaders reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bail-out package in 2022 but have made limited progress on reforms required to clinch the deal.