Lebanon's Hariri, Prime Minister Once Again

Saad Hariri, designated Thursday for a third term as Lebanon's prime minister, is the son of assassinated billionaire ex-premier Rafik Hariri and a long-time critic of Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally, Hezbollah

Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th May, 2018 ) :Saad Hariri, designated Thursday for a third term as Lebanon's prime minister, is the son of assassinated billionaire ex-premier Rafik Hariri and a long-time critic of Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally, Hezbollah.

But after a bizarre resignation scare late last year, the political scion is poised to make what could be a pragmatic return, now tasked with forming a cabinet in a parliament dominated by Hezbollah and its allies.

The stocky 48-year-old, who sports trademark slicked-back hair and a closely cropped beard, was thrust onto the political stage after his father was assassinated in a February 2005 car bomb attack.

But he has struggled to fill his father's shoes, ending short his first term in office and threatening to do the same with his second. Already a two-time premier, Hariri sent shockwaves across the region last year by resigning from office while in Saudi Arabia and blaming Iran-backed Hezbollah for destabilising the region.

The announcement triggered a flurry of international interventions that eventually saw Hariri return to his post, adopting a more conciliatory tone towards the group. He also blamed the Lebanese Movement for his father's death, but has had little success in reining in the group, which was the sole faction to retain its arsenal after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

His Future Movement lost a third of its seats on May 6, when Lebanon held its first legislative election in nine years and voters reinforced the Shiite movement's parliamentary weight. He will now be tasked with forming a cabinet -- typically a drawn-out process involving horse-trading among Lebanon's competing political forces.