Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, to assume the role of prime minister after gaining majority support from lawmakers, a move Hezbollah criticized as an attempt by its opponents to sideline the group.
The choice of Salam underlined the major shift in the power balance among Lebanon's sectarian factions since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah was pummelled in a war with Israel last year, and its Syrian ally Bashar Assad was toppled.
The presidency said Salam, currently outside the country and due to return on Tuesday, had secured the backing of 84 out of parliament's 128 lawmakers, and Aoun had summoned him to assign him to form the government.
Salam won backing from Christian and Druze factions, and prominent Sunni Muslim lawmakers, including Hezbollah allies.
But lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shi'ite ally the Amal Movement, which hold all the seats reserved for Shi'ites in parliament, did not name anybody, indicating they currently do not intend to participate in Salam's government.
Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad, whose Iran-backed group had wanted incumbent Najib Mikati to stay in the post, said Hezbollah's opponents were working for fragmentation and exclusion. He said the group had "extended its hand" by electing Joseph Aoun as president last week only to find the "hand cut."
Last week's election of army commander General Aoun, who enjoys the support of the United States and Saudi Arabia, was another sign of shifts in the political landscape, in which Hezbollah had long held decisive sway.
Aoun, a Maronite Christian, held consultations over the choice of prime minister with parliament's 128 lawmakers on Monday. He is obliged to pick the candidate with the greatest number of votes.
The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, which parcels out state positions on the basis of religious affiliation. The presidency goes to a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament must be a Shi'ite Muslim.
Hezbollah lawmakers attended their meeting with Aoun later than scheduled, delaying their arrival as they saw the momentum building behind Salam, a Hezbollah source said.
Hezbollah believed a political understanding had been reached on Mikati's election before the group agreed to elect Aoun last week, the source said.
