Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam on Wednesday began two-day non-binding consultations with MPs for forming a new government, amid a boycott by the parliamentary blocs of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, known in Lebanon as the Shiite Duo.

French leader Emmanuel Macron is due to visit Lebanon on Friday, both countries said, in the second such trip by a head of state since Lebanon elected a president last week.

Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam’s non-binding parliamentary consultations for forming a new government will be held in parliament on Wednesday and Thursday , Parliament’s Secretariat-General said.

Salam will meet with the parliamentary blocs on Wednesday from 10:00 am until around 6:00 pm and will meet with the independent MPs on Thursday from 10:00 am until around 6:45 pm, the Secretariat-General said in a statement.

Higher Islamic Shiite Council leader Sheikh Ali al-Khatib on Tuesday called for “consolidating national unity and building the state upon citizenship and equality among citizens,” during a meeting in Baabda with President Joseph Aoun.

President Joseph Aoun noted Tuesday that “Shiites are not the only ones threatened, but rather entire Lebanon,” reiterating that “if one of us loses, we all lose.”

“We have very big opportunities that we must seize together and there is no time to waste,” Aoun told a delegation from the Higher Islamic Shiite Council led by Sheikh Ali al-Khatib.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has said that his bloc voted for Nawaf Salam in the binding consultations to pick a new PM due to his “reformist characteristics” and “the presence of consensus over him.”

Lebanon's new prime minister pledged Tuesday to extend state authority over all Lebanese soil after a November ceasefire ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Nawaf Salam, in his first speech, said he would "extend the authority of the Lebanese state across all its territory" and "work seriously to completely implement U.N. resolution 1701" calling for Hezbollah to withdraw from south Lebanon.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has responded to the remarks that MP Mohammad Raad voiced Monday at the Baabda Palace, saying there was no “exclusion” in the designation of Nawaf Salam as premier.

Nawaf Salam, Lebanon's new prime minister, is a leading international judge who won support for staying out of the political infighting that has paralyzed the crisis-hit country in recent years.

The 71-year-old, who until now was presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, hails from a prominent Beirut political family.

The Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert welcomed the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon’s new President, expressing hope that it would act as "the kick-start Lebanon desperately needs for institution-strengthening and the enactment of critical reforms".

Noting the steep drop-off in violence following the entry into force of the cessation of hostilities on 27 November, Hennis-Plasschaert relayed Monday that some progress was being made with respect to Israeli withdrawal from and Lebanese redeployment to positions in southern Lebanon, while adding that more works needed to be done.