Hariri withdraws his candidacy for PM, calls for quick government formation

BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri withdrew Tuesday his candidacy for the premiership, labeling the move as a way to "preserve Lebanon's opportunity to rebuild its capital and implement well-known reforms that are long overdue."

"I declare that I am not a candidate to head the new government and I hope everyone will withdraw my name from deliberation in this regard," Hariri said in a statement. 

Hariri called on President Michel Aoun to "respect the constitution and immediately call for binding parliamentary consultations in line with Article 53," which will pave the way for the formation of a government capable of tackling the many crises facing Lebanon. 

"I had made a commitment not to take a political stand before the ruling of the Special Court in Lebanon regarding the assassination of the Prime Minister Rafik Hariri," Hariri said.

Last week, the STL court convicted one member of the Hezbollah militant group and acquitted three others of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. “It took a long time with the highest standards of international justice, and the Lebanese will no longer let their country be a hotbed for those fleeing law and justice,” Hariri commented on the ruling.

The court argued that Salim Ayyash was the head of the “red cell,” which carried out the assassination was and involved in other surveillance. He was allegedly the link to Mustafa Badreddine, Hezbollah's military commander, who was involved in the planning before being killed in Syria years later.

Lebanon has been without fully functioning government since caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab's government resigned earlier this month after capitulating to the demands of protestors in the wake of the deadly blast that rocked Beirut.

Diab accused Lebanon's ruling political class of using his government as a scapegoat, saying the "forces of corruption were too strong and united against us."

"Between Lebanon and change is a very strong barrier," he said.