Your trusted source

Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced on Tuesday he does not want to lead the next government - a "decisive" move he said aims to expedite the formation of a new cabinet in the protest-hit country, Al Jazeera reports. 

Hariri resigned last month, bowing to popular pressure from a nationwide street movement demanding a complete overhaul of the government.

Since his resignation on October 29, Lebanon's bitterly divided political leaders have yet to name a new premier or form a new government.

"I am sticking by the rule 'not me, rather someone else' to form a government that addresses the aspirations of the young men and women," Hariri, Lebanon's leading Sunni-Muslim politician, said in a statement.

"I have full hope and confidence, after announcing this clear and decisive decision, that the president of the republic ... will immediately call the binding parliamentary consultations" to designate a new prime minister, he said.

The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system. Hariri is aligned with Western and Gulf Arab states.

The 49-year-old did not name an alternative candidate, but said his decision aims to "open doors to a solution".

According to sources at the presidential palace, President Michel Aoun will hold binding consultations with members of parliament on Thursday to designate the country's next prime minister.