Billionaire businessman Najib Mikati, a moderate politician and former premier, was set to clinch the nomination after Hezbollah and its allies lined up the needed backing of at least 65 of the 128 Parliament members as voting on the candidate began Monday.
Outgoing Premier Saad Hariri’s Future Movement on Monday accused the Hezbollah of staging a coup and called for peaceful protests across the country. Hariri’s supporters began to block main highways as demonstrations spread in protest against Mikati, a security official said.
Sunni lawmakers have called for a “day of rage” throughout Lebanon on Tuesday to protest Hezbollah’s gains. In a news conference, lawmaker Moustafa Alloush called for protests to voice refusal for “Persian tutelage” over Lebanon — a reference to Hezbollah’s patrons in Iran. He said the protests should be peaceful.
Mikati, whose wealth is estimated at $2.5 billion, is on the Forbes list of world billionaires. In the 1980s, during Lebanon’s civil war, he founded telecom company Investcom with his elder brother, Taha. They sold the company to South Africa’s MTN Group for $5.5 billion in 2006. The Mikati brothers now run M1 Group, a multibillion-dollar holding company with interests in telecom, oil and gas and real estate among other things.
Last year, M1 bought a 13.95 percent stake in Bank Audi, Lebanon largest bank, for $450 million.
