The heavyweights of the Sunni community in Lebanon announced Sunday evening that they had agreed on the name of a diplomat, Moustapha Adib, as Prime Minister, a choice which must still be ratified during parliamentary consultations on Monday. This choice of a relatively unknown personality comes on the eve of the return of French President Emmanuel Macron, who is urging Lebanese officials to carry out an in-depth reform of the political system.
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The popular protest movement has warned that it will reject any name resulting from the consultations of a political class whose departure it is asking for. "We reject the outcome of the parliamentary consultations known in advance and which would lead, as usual, to a so-called government of national unity, a government which is cooked abroad," Naji Abou told AFP Khalil, member of the National Bloc, an opposition party which supports the protest.
The government of Hassan Diab resigned on August 10 under the weight of the explosion in the port of Beirut which left at least 188 dead, for which the population blames the political class, accused of incompetence and corruption. President Michel Aoun on Monday called binding consultations with the parliamentary blocs, at the end of which the Sunni personality who will collect the greatest number of votes will be appointed Prime Minister.
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Former prime ministers, including Saad Hariri, announced after a meeting on Sunday evening that they had agreed on the name of the Lebanese ambassador to Germany. "We have decided to appoint Ambassador Moustapha Adib, and we hope that the government will be quickly formed," former head of government Fouad Siniora told the press.
The tenors of the Sunni community had criticized the presidential party, the Free Patriotic Current, and its Shiite allies, Hezbollah and the Amal movement, for having appointed Hassan Diab without their consent after the resignation in October 2019 of Saad Hariri under pressure popular protest. This time, they seem certain to obtain the approval of the three parties, and therefore to obtain the number of votes necessary for their candidate.
Aged 48, Moustapha Adib, holder of a doctorate in Political Science, is a university professor appointed in 2013 Ambassador to Germany. He is close to the former prime minister and billionaire Najib Mikati, originally from Tripoli.