Hariri to Begin Talks Monday, Baabda Says His New Stance 'Advanced'

Ex-PM Saad Hariri will launch contacts on Monday with all the parliamentary blocs that were present at the Pine Residence meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, media reports said on Friday.

“The Center House is awaiting public responses from the parliamentary blocs to act accordingly and decide on the next steps,” Center House sources told LBCI TV.

“What’s important is to reactivate communication among the political forces, which had been severed in the wake of (PM-designate) Mustafa Adib’s resignation, in order to rescue and revive the French initiative in terms of the formation of the government, its economic program, the rescue of Lebanon and the reconstruction of (blast-hit) Beirut,” the sources added.

Sources close to President Michel Aoun meanwhile told LBCI that the presidential palace is awaiting the outcome of the contacts that Hariri will carry out with the various parties.

“Hariri’s stance was advanced (in Thursday’s TV interview) and he has shifted from the phase of refusing to be a premier during this stage to the phase of declaring himself to be a PM candidate within the French initiative,” the sources added.

Mustaqbal Movement sources meanwhile told al-Jadeed TV that “Hariri did not nominate himself but rather said that he is a natural candidate for the premiership, seeing as he is the head of a large parliamentary bloc, the leader of a broad political movement and a former prime minister.”

The sources added that Hariri will explore the reactions of the parties to his latest stance on the new government and will hold consultations with the ex-PMs, al-Mustaqbal bloc and al-Mustaqbal Movement ahead of “reactivating political communication as of Monday.”

Hariri said Thursday that he is a possible candidate to head the new government to stem the country's economic collapse after the massive port blast.

Macron last month extracted a pledge from all Lebanese political sides to back speedy government formation as part of a roadmap out of the crisis, but efforts so far have failed.

"I am definitely a candidate" to head the next government, Hariri said during a live interview on the MTV television channel.

I "will not close the door on the only hope left for Lebanon to stem this collapse," he said.

The country is mired in its worst economic crunch in decades, and still reeling from a massive explosion at Beirut’s port on August 4 that killed more than 200 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital.

President Aoun is to hold parliamentary consultations on naming a new premier on Thursday next week.

Hariri said he was ready to start making phone calls during the coming week "if all political teams still agree on the program" discussed with Macron.

The former premier stepped down under street pressure last fall after mass protests erupted demanding the overhaul of a political class accused of being inept and corrupt.

The government that followed, headed by Hassan Diab, resigned in the wake of the huge Beirut blast.

The next premier designate, Mustafa Adib, last month bowed out just weeks after being nominated, after his efforts to hammer out a cabinet were blocked by the country's two main Shiite political parties -- Hizbullah and Amal -- seeking to keep the finance ministry under their control.

Forming a government can drag on for months in multi-confessional Lebanon, where a power-sharing agreement seeks to maintain a fragile balance between all sides.

But Hariri said all political sides had agreed with Macron, who visited Beirut twice in the wake of the blast, to set aside their differences for six months to save the country from further deterioration.

"Every political side can invent a problem to government formation," Hariri said.

"But if the political parties really want to stem the collapse and rebuild Beirut, they must follow the French initiative," he said.