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Lebanon’s 2 major parties back Hariri for PM

In this photo released by the Lebanese Parliament media office, former Lebanese Prime Minister and lawmaker Saad Hariri, center, casts his vote during a session to elect new president at the parliament hall, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. Lebanon's parliament on Monday elected Michel Aoun, an 81-year-old former army commander and strong ally of the militant group Hezbollah, as the country's president, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the top post and a political crisis that brought state institutions perilously close to collapse. (Hassan Ibrahim, Lebanese Parliament media office, via AP) In this photo released by the Lebanese Parliament media office, former Lebanese Prime Minister and lawmaker Saad Hariri, center, casts his vote during a session to elect new president at the parliament hall, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. Lebanon's parliament on Monday elected Michel Aoun, an 81-year-old former army commander and strong ally of the militant group Hezbollah, as the country's president, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the top post and a political crisis that brought state institutions perilously close to collapse. (Hassan Ibrahim, Lebanese Parliament media office, via AP)

By Associated Press November 1, 2016 1 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanon’s two major parliamentary blocs have named Saad Hariri, a former prime minister and a Sunni leader, as their candidate for premier in the government to be formed after a new president was elected.

The formal nomination Tuesday by the Future bloc, led by Hariri, and the majority Christian bloc comes a day after Michel Aoun was elected president. Aoun is likely to name the new premier before the weekend.

Hariri’s nomination was widely expected. He was promised the post in exchange for backing Aoun’s presidential bid, ending a two-and-half-year deadlock that left Lebanon without a president.

In the country’s sectarian-based political system, the prime minister is likely to face a daunting job, balancing different and often rival groups, to form a new Cabinet.