Lebanon to start government formation talks as protests persist

Demonstrators reject latest frontrunner for PM, businessman Samir Khatib, as being too close to ruling elite.
Consultations to form a new government in Lebanon will formally begin on Monday, the presidency has announced, more than a month after a wave of protests led the prime minister, Saad Hariri, to resign. “The presidency has set Monday as the date for the parliamentary consultations” for the designation of a new prime minister, the presidency announced in a short statement on social media on Wednesday. Despite continued pressure from a nationwide protest movement to radically overhaul the political system, President Michel Aoun had so far stopped short of announcing formal talks to agree on a new lineup.
He and several key partners in the fractious outgoing governing coalition had apparently insisted on reaching a deal before announcing the start of formal talks with Lebanon’s parliamentary blocs.
Hariri announced his resignation on October 29, nearly two weeks into an unprecedented nationwide protest movement that has been demanding an end to corruption and sectarian-based politics.
Several names have surfaced since, each time prompting the scorn or the anger of the protest camp, which has accused the ruling elite of using stalling tactics to cling to their jobs.
In recent weeks, politicians failed to agree on the shape and form of a new government. Hariri had insisted on heading a government of technocrats, while his opponents, including Hezbollah, want a cabinet made up of both experts and politicial. Source: aljazeera.com