Al-Hariri re-nominated as Lebanese prime minister

Madeline Wahbi
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-09-23

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman (R) met Saad al-Hariri at the Presidential Palace on Sept. 16, offered him the post of Prime Minister for the second time and asked him to undertake the difficult task of forming a new government. (Reuters/ Dalati Nohra / handout)

BEIRUT — Just one week after resigning from the office of Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad al-Hariri is once again the head of his party. He resigned because he was unable to form a national unity government after more than two months of political deliberations. Representing the parliamentary majority, the March 14 Alliance voted on Sept. 16 to reappoint him Prime Minister.

Later that day, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman officially offered Al-Hariri the post again, after a majority of the 128 members of parliament had re-nominated him. According to analysts, the 73 members of parliament who called for Al-Hariri's re-nomination are in the process of issuing a vote of confidence in the young leader, who has been trying since the beginning of June to form a national unity Cabinet.

The re-nomination gives Al-Hariri another opportunity to form a government that is accepted by all of Lebanon’s diverse political factions. The fact that 55 parliament members abstained from the vote, however, indicates that the task will not be easier the second time around. Al-Hariri, however, appears ready to take on the challenge.

He issued a statement after the re-nomination, pledging to communicate with all parties, "so that nobody can say that we refused to negotiate with them…I will also be more patient, much more so than last time."

After ten weeks of hard work, Al-Hariri resigned from office when the main Lebanese opposition, the March 8 Alliance led by Hezbollah, hampered his efforts to form a Council of Ministers and rejected the proposal for a Cabinet offered by President Suleiman.

Al-Hariri confirmed that he will start a new round of negotiations to form a Council of Ministers after Eid Al-Fitr.

Sources: Al-Arabiya / Al-Jazeera / Daily Star newspaper

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