The president appointed Harvard-educated billionaire businessman and former premier Najib Mikati as prime minister-designate after a majority of lawmakers voted for him. Mikati defeated US-backed Saad Hariri, who was prime minister from 2009 until Hezbollah forced the unity government he led to collapse two weeks ago.
"My hand is extended to all Lebanese, Muslims and Christians, in order to build and not to destroy," Mikati said after he was chosen, striking a conciliatory tone and calling for another unity government.
The vote caps Hezbollah's steady rise over the past few decades from a resistance group fighting Israel to Lebanon's most powerful military and political force. The shift in the balance of power drew warnings from the US that its support for Lebanon could be in jeopardy, demonstrating the risks of international isolation if Hezbollah pushes too far.
Despite opposition from the Hariri camp, Mikati is seen as a relatively neutral choice who enjoys good relations with both Syrian President Bashar Assad and with Hariri. That puts Hariri in the awkward position of rejecting a candidate who has been an ally in the past.
Hariri's bloc has insisted it will not join a government led by a Hezbollah pick, which could mean months of political deadlock ahead in Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said later Tuesday that neither Mikati nor the government he will form are going to be controlled by Hezbollah. He urged Mikati to form a national unity government and called on the Western-backed coalition to be part of it.
"Refusing to participate in this government means that you want to govern alone and that you would do anything for the sake of power," he said about the Hariri-led coalition.
According to Lebanon's power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Sunni, the Parliament speaker a Shiite and the president a Maronite Christian.
