Lebanon forms new government

Secretary-General of Lebanon's Council of Ministers Fouad Fleifel announced Sunday night the decrees of the formation of the new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

The new cabinet is the 73rd since the declaration of Lebanon's independence in 1943 and is composed of 30 ministers.

Hariri was asked on Nov. 3 to form the new government after obtaining during the binding parliamentary consultations the nomination of 112 members of the 126-seat parliament.

Hariri, who is the son of the late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, served as prime minister between 2009 and 2011 and is currently member of the parliament.

Lebanon was in a political deadlock since the end of the six-year term of former President Michel Suleiman on May 25, 2014.

Hariri launched an initiative that led to the election of President Michel Aoun as the 13th president of Lebanon on Oct. 31, ending more than two and half years of vacuum.

(APD)