Lebanon parliament renominates Hariri for PM job

BEIRUT - Lebanon’s parliament nominated on Wednesday Saad al-Hariri for a second time to form a government, a task complicated by rising tension with his political opponents Hezbollah and its allies.

President Michel Suleiman will officially designate Hariri to the post of prime minister later in the day, political sources said. Hariri had failed the first time around to form a government after a June election, stepping down last week.

A majority of the country’s 128 lawmakers nominated him in two days of consultations to try again, the sources said.

The president is obliged to designate the figure with the most support among MPs. In an unofficial count, 73 MPs nominated Hariri while 55 did not name anyone.

His renomination, though widely expected, gave a boost to the Beirut bourse, with the BLOM stock index .BLSI> closing 1.0 percent up.

Hariri, a 39-year-old U.S.- and Saudi-backed billionaire businessman, leads the parliamentary majority coalition, which defeated a rival alliance including the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah in the election.

He was nominated prime minister after the poll but stepped down after more than 10 weeks trying to forge a unity government including Hezbollah and its allies.

Hariri, Lebanon’s main Sunni politician, and rival groups have traded accusations of blame since the failure of the talks.

There has been no sign of compromise over the differences that derailed Hariri’s first attempt, chief among them his refusal to yield to the demands of Christian politician Michel Aoun, an ally of Shia group Hezbollah.

Reflecting a less cordial political climate, the pro-Syria parliamentary bloc of Shia parliament speaker Nabih Berri, which nominated Hariri for prime minister in June, did not nominate anyone for the post on Tuesday.

Likewise, MPs belonging to Aoun’s bloc and the political and military group Hezbollah did not nominate anyone.

Politicians say the deadlock reflects a relapse in ties between Saudi Arabia and Syria, states with great influence in Lebanon and whose rivalries have fueled political instability and violence in the country over the past four years.

Rapprochement between Damascus and Riyadh this year has helped Lebanon enjoy its longest spell of political stability since the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, Saad’s father.

But the postponement of a visit Saudi’s King Abdullah was due to make to Damascus has signaled a freeze in the rapprochement. Many Lebanese fear that could be reflected in a protracted political standoff over the new government.