Lebanon’s Saad Hariri asked to draw up new cabinet

By Wasim Saif al-Din

BEIRUT (AA) - Saad Hariri, head of Lebanon’s Future Movement, received a parliamentary mandate to draw up a new government on Thursday.

Hariri received the endorsement of 68 out of 128 lawmakers from different parliamentary blocs.

The pro-Hezbollah “resistance bloc”, for its part, has refrained from fielding a candidate for the premiership but has confirmed its willingness to play a role in the next government.

According to Lebanon’s constitution, the president of the republic must consult with parliament’s 128 members with a view to choosing a prime minister who will then propose a new cabinet lineup.