Saad Hariri, designated Thursday for a third term as Lebanon's prime minister, is the son of assassinated billionaire ex-premier Rafik Hariri and a long-time critic of Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally, Hizbullah.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Thursday after he was tasked with forming a new Cabinet that his government would abide by Lebanon's declared policy of distancing itself from regional conflicts.

“I will embark on the mission of forming the government, knowing that all the influential blocs have agreed on the need to form a national unity government as soon as possible in light of the pressing financial and external situations,” Hariri said in an address to the nation after his designation.

Parliamentary consultations for the formation of a “broad national unity government” will kick off on Monday, Speaker Nabih Berri announced Thursday after meeting President Michel Aoun in Baabda.

“The government must be formed quickly because the economic situation is pressing,” Berri said, shortly after Saad Hariri was officially tasked with forming a new government.

Saad Hariri was officially tasked Thursday with forming a new government after he garnered 111 votes in the binding parliamentary consultations, the Presidency said.

The consultations were held at the Baabda Palace from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea held talks Thursday with President Michel Aoun in Baabda on the sidelines of the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new premier.

After a 15-minute bilateral meeting with the president, Geagea announced that the LF bloc nominated caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri for a new term.

General Security Chief, Major General Abbas Ibrahim marked Resistance and Liberation Day on Thursday assuring that the fight against terrorism and the Israeli enemy “will always be a priority,” the NAtional News Agency reported.

The Lebanese Forces party accused Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil of “leading a campaign against the LF,” describing the election of an FPM figure to the permanent secretary post for this Parliament’s term as a “coup,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“What happened at the secretariat of the Parliament is a coup on the promises that were given to us. It was agreed with Speaker Nabih Berri that (LF) deputy Fadi Saad would replace MP Antoine Zahra in the secretariat,” said the sources.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday called on all parties to “facilitate” the formation of the new government as he promised Lebanese citizens that steps will be taken to “eradicate” the rampant corruption in the country.

“There are a lot of domestic and external challenges ahead and we can only confront them through our unity and solidarity and by giving the priority to the national interest,” Aoun said at the annual iftar banquet in Baabda, which brings together the country's top leaders and officials every year.

Caretaker Interior Minister and Beirut MP Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Wednesday walked out of parliament during a vote for the deputy speaker post.

“I will not vote for Ghazi Kanaan for the deputy speaker post,” Mashnouq tweeted, in a jab at MP Elie Ferzli who was elected deputy speaker during the session.

First-time parliamentarian Paula Yacoubian, a journalist who is close to Prime Minister Saad Hariri but ran as a civil society candidate, made a scene at parliament on Wednesday by voting symbolically for prominent Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki for the parliament speaker post.

Yacouboian objected after Labaki's name was not read out during the counting of votes.