Lebanon to hold consultations over selecting new PM on June 23

Lebanese President Michel Aoun will hold binding consultations with members of the recently-elected parliament to name a new prime minister on Thursday June 23, an official source told Reuters.

Once named, the new prime minister must form a government, a process that often takes many months.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is widely seen as a frontrunner. 

Saad Hariri, former Prime Minister whose party had taken most seats in the last election (2018), decided to withdraw from politics. 

Lebanon is in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history. Delays in picking a new leader would obstruct the country's ability to recover from this severe crisis.