"Lebanon's President Michel Aoun has issued a decree on November 3, 12:00 PM, on appointing Saad Hariri for the post the prime minister of the country," a presidential administration representative told reporters.
The resolution of Lebanon's power vacuum and political stalemate has seen significant progress over recent weeks. On Monday, Lebanese lawmakers voted for former Lebanese army commander Michel Aoun to become the new president of the Middle Eastern republic. Aoun's election ended a power vacuum that lasted for over two years since former President Michel Suleiman's term expired in 2014 and a rift between political forces emerged.
Major moves to end the stalemate were made in late October, when the Shiite-dominated Hezbollah party announced its support for Aoun. A few days earlier, Hariri, a Sunni politician, also voiced his backing of the president.
The president in Lebanon is always chosen from Christian candidates, according to an unwritten agreement, which also stipulates that the prime minister must always be a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the parliament must be a Shiite.
