Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah. (Photo provided by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah (Bint Jbeil) said Sunday that the party will not announce its preferred candidate for prime minister before Thursday, when parliamentary consultations will take place on the subject.
Here’s what we know:
• Fadlallah said during a meeting with voters in his district that “consultations and contacts” are underway between Hezbollah and its allies and various parliamentary blocs, but that the name of the party’s chosen candidate would only be announced Thursday.
• He called for “the broadest [possible] understanding between the parliamentary blocs regarding the next government, as it is difficult for any one-sided government to succeed,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
• Fadlallah alleged that ambassadors of various foreign countries, particularly the United States, had been attempting to “impose dictates” on Lebanon with regards to the prime ministrer selection and government formation process.
• Current caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is considered the most likely candidate, although he has faced opposition from some quarters — notably, from Hezbollah’s ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, whose leader, Gebran Bassil, said the party would not vote for Mikati. Officials from the FPM’s main rival, the Lebanese Forces, also said they are against the renewal of Mikati for another term.