Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri was named as Lebanon's new prime minister on Thursday, the office of President Michel Aoun announced.

“After the necessary parliamentary consultations... the president has entrusted Saad Hariri with the formation of a government,” said a statement read by the president's chief of staff Antoine Chouqair.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has congratulated ex-PM Saad Hariri on “the role that he played to put an end to the presidential vacuum,” Hariri's office said on Tuesday.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri urged everyone to cooperate for the well interest of Lebanon, pointing to a new leaf that will be opened on Monday after the election of a head of state to fill the longtime vacuum.

“The country is on the threshold of a new phase, and I hope that everyone cooperates for the well interest of Lebanon and the Lebanese,” said Hariri after meeting Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam received in separate meetings at the Grand Serail on Saturday Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh and Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri.

Hariri briefed Salam on the preparations for the electoral session scheduled for Monday to elect a president.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri formally endorsed Thursday the presidential nomination of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun, describing his decision as a “major political risk” that he is willing to take for the sake of the country.

“Based on the points of agreement that we have reached, I announce today before you my decision to endorse the nomination of General Michel Aoun for the presidency of the republic,” said Hariri in a speech at the Center House -- his downtown Beirut residence.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held separate talks Tuesday at the Center House with representatives of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Speaker Nabih Berri.

Hariri's talks with Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, who is close to Jumblat, tackled “the current developments in the country,” Hariri's press office said in a statement.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri will take his time before declaring support for Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun's presidential nomination and will not make any move before finishing all his internal and external consultations that aim to “explore all opinions, risks and repercussions,” Mustaqbal sources have said.

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh told ex-PM Saad Hariri during their latest meeting that he will not withdraw from the presidential race in favor of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun and that he would only make such a move if there is an agreement on a third candidate, a media report said on Sunday.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri held a meeting on Wednesday with Kataeb party leader Sami Gemayel at the Kataeb headquarters in al-Saifi.

The visit comes in the framework of consultations that Hariri said will wrap up to address the issue of electing a president after more than two years of vacuum at the top Christian position.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri returned to Beirut overnight from a several-week foreign trip during which he shuttled between Europe and Saudi Arabia.