Can Miqati be re-appointed as PM?

The Shiite Duo and the Progressive Socialist Party lean toward re-appointing Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, media reports said Friday.

On the other hand, the Lebanese Forces party has stressed the need to name a sovereign PM, who guarantees that only the state take the war and peace decisions. The LF might suggest former President of the U.N. Security Council Nawwaf Salam, while the reformist MPs reportedly prefer not to name an LF-backed candidate and might name MP Halima Qaaqour.

The PSP MPs have said that the government must be led by the majority and its PM must be sovereign. They stressed that it should be a political not a technocrat government. Yet, media reports have said that the PSP also leans towards re-appointing Miqati, a choice backed by France and Washington, according to al-Akhbar newspaper.

The Free Patriotic Movement is reportedly against re-appointing Miqati who according to the FPM has been protecting the Central Bank governor. It called for a government that represents all parties, suggesting the name of Jawad Adra.

Miqati had expressed in an interview his unwillingness to be re-appointed, suggesting other names like MPs Abdel Rahman Bizri, Ashraf Rifi and economist Amer Bsat.

The binding Parliamentary consultations are expected to start at the middle of next week following the election of the parliamentary committees' members.