ADDS WITH NEW PM, CHANGES TITLE, SPOT, LEDE
By Riya Shartouni, Saber Eid
BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanese President Michel Aoun tasked former Education Minister Hassad Diab to form new government Thursday after parliamentary consultations, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Consultations to name the new prime minister were held earlier Thursday after the resignation of Saad Hariri on Oct. 29 in response to popular anti-government protests.
Diab, who received 69 of 128 votes in the parliamentary consultations, was summoned to the presidential palace where he was informed of his new task.
Security forces have taken strict measures to secure the road leading to the presidential palace.
Before the consultations, Aoun met caretaker Prime Minister Hairi for almost 15 minutes. Hariri is expected to submit his opinion for his successor.
Consultations on designating a new premier had originally been scheduled for last week before being postponed until Monday and delayed again until Thursday.
Lebanon is suffering high unemployment, slow growth and one of the highest debt ratios in the world, with a debt burden reaching $86.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to the Ministry of Finance.
* Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara
