Hariri Says He’s No Longer Candidate for Lebanese Premier

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday he would not seek to stay on the post, ahead of much-delayed consultations to give the protest-wracked country a new government.

Fifty days after demonstrations against Lebanon's political elite forced him to step down, Hariri had looked like he might attempt to keep his seat.

But he said his name was drawing too much opposition for him to be a candidate when official consultations to pick a new line-up begin on Thursday.

"I have strived to meet their demand for a government of experts, which I saw as the only option to address the serious social and economic crisis our country faces," Hariri said.

"I announce I will not be a candidate to form the next government," he said in a statement.

Lebanon's economy has been sliding towards default in recent weeks but the main political parties have so far failed to respond to calls from the street and international partners by forming a credible cabinet capable of undertaking key reforms.

The consultations for a new cabinet have been postponed twice already and it remains to be seen whether they will indeed take place on Thursday and whether Hariri's chances of a third mandate as prime minister are really over.