President Aoun designates former minister Hassan Diab to form new Lebanese government

BEIRUT, (ST)- President Michel Aoun of Lebanon on Thursday designated former Education Minister Hassan Diab as Lebanon’s prime minister and asked him to form the new government after he had garnered 69 votes in parliamentary consultations.

In a statement following his meeting on Thursday with President Aoun, Diab vowed to seek fast creation of a government that embodies the aspirations of the Lebanese, works to pull the country out of the economic crisis, considers the concerns of the Lebanese and leads Lebanon to  stability.”

 “I will work hard to form a government as soon as possible; the current era is critical and it requires efforts and national unity to immunize the country and push the rescue process forward,” Diab added.

The binding parliamentary consultations conducted by President Aoun with Parliament members ended with Diab winning 69 votes while 13 lawmakers voted for Nawwaf Salam and only one MP voted for Halima Qaqour.

Hamda Mustafa