President Joseph Aoun starts binding consultations on naming PM

New Lebanese President Joseph Aoun began parliamentary consultations Monday to designate a prime minister tasked with forming a government desperately needed to tackle major challenges in the crisis-hit country.

Caretaker premier Najib Mikati and Nawaf Salam, a favorite of anti-Hezbollah lawmakers who is the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, have emerged as the frontrunners.

The first round of talks ended shortly before midday with 12 independent lawmakers backing Salam, seven picking Mikati, and two others choosing neither of them.

Aoun was then to meet the main parliamentary blocs in the afternoon.

The consultations, a constitutional requirement, follow Aoun's election last week amid foreign pressure for swift progress -- particularly from the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The eastern Mediterranean nation had been without a president since October 2022, run by a caretaker government amid a crushing economic crisis compounded by all-out war between Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel.

Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, Lebanon's president is a Maronite Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim, and the parliament speaker is a Shiite Muslim.

- 'Change' -

Salam's backers view the judge and former ambassador to the United Nations as someone impartial able to carry out much-needed reforms.

They see Mikati as part of an old political system that Iran-backed Hezbollah has within its grip.

Independent lawmaker Melhem Khalaf said he had backed Salam as someone outside the country's traditional political class in order to bring about "change."

Firas Hamdan, an independent member of parliament who also supported him, said lawmakers were being asked to choose between "impunity and international justice, between corruption and clean hands."

Consultations come after Hezbollah was weakened by the war with Israel that ended on November 27, and after it lost a key ally when Islamist-led rebels toppled president Bashar al-Assad last month.

Saudi Arabia and the United States were among key countries driving diplomatic efforts to end the presidential vacuum.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that both Hezbollah and Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal Movement supported Mikati.

The incumbent's re-designation is "part of the accord reached with the Saudi envoy to Lebanon... that led Hezbollah and Amal to vote for Aoun as president" last week, the source said on condition of anonymity as the matter is sensitive.

Riyadh has restored its interest in Lebanon's political scene after years of distancing itself in protest at the influence of Hezbollah.

Mikati, who has already formed three governments and has good relations with Lebanon's political parties and several foreign countries, has denied any such prior arrangement exists.

One of the country's richest men, Mikati has headed the country in a caretaker capacity throughout the presidential vacuum.

- 'U.S. coup?' -

Al-Akhbar, a newspaper close to Hezbollah, on Monday headlined its front page: "The race for prime minister: A complete U.S. coup?"

In his inaugural speech on Thursday, Aoun said his election as president would usher in a "new phase" for the country.

Lebanese university professor Ali Mrad said support for Salam's nomination reflected "the real changes that Lebanon is experiencing."

"Today there are two options in the country: a serious reform option, called Nawaf Salam, and an option that takes up back, called Najib Mikati," he said.

Opposition lawmakers on Saturday had thrown their backing behind anti-Hezbollah lawmaker Fouad Makhzoumi, a wealthy businessman who has good ties with Gulf countries and Washington.

But on Monday he said he withdrew his candidacy to "make way for consensus... around the name of Judge Nawaf Salam."

Whoever heads Lebanon's new government will face major challenges, including implementing reforms to satisfy international donors amid the country's worst economic crisis in its history.

They will also face the daunting task of reconstructing swathes of the country after the Israel-Hezbollah war and implementing the November 27 ceasefire agreement, which includes the thorny issue of disarming Hezbollah.

According to Lebanon's constitution, the president designates the prime minister after talks with all political parties and independent lawmakers in parliament. By convention, he chooses the candidate with the most votes during these consultations.

Nominating a premier does not guarantee a new government will be formed imminently.

The process has previously taken weeks or even months due to deep political divisions and horse-trading.