Lebanese president to consult on new PM from Monday

Newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will hold consultations with members of parliament from January 13 to nominate a prime minister, the presidency said on Friday.

Once named, the new prime minister must form a government, a process that often takes many months. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely seen as a frontrunner, but opposition parliamentarian Fouad Makhzoumi may have the backing of a number of lawmakers, political sources said.

The post is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, which also reserves the presidency for a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament post for a Shi'ite Muslim.

Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Aoun as president on Thursday, filling a post that has been vacant since October 2022 with a general who has US support and showing the weakened sway of the Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel.

In his first remarks as president on Thursday, Aoun said that he would work to assert the state's right to hold the monopoly on arms.

Mikati said on Friday that the state would begin disarming in southern Lebanon, to assert its presence across the country.

Lebanon and Israel agreed in November to a 60-day ceasefire that stipulates that only "official military and security forces" in Lebanon are authorised to carry arms.

The proposal refers to both sides' commitment to fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, including provisions that refer to the "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon".