Diplomat Mustapha Adib becomes Lebanon's new premier

BEIRUT (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - Lebanese diplomat Mustapha Adib has been asked to form a new government after receiving majority votes in consultations held by President Michel Aoun on Monday (Aug 31).

Mr Adib, an academic and Lebanon's ambassador to Germany, has received 90 nominations from parliamentarians so far, giving him the majority required to secure the premiership after he won the backing of key political groupings.

He is tasked with guiding the country through one of the deepest economic crises in its recent history and rebuilding a capital city shattered by this month's blast.

The prime minister-designate called on Monday for the formation of a new government in record time and urged immediate reforms as a step towards securing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

"The opportunity for our country is small and the mission I have accepted is based on all the political forces acknowledging that," Mr Adib said after being designated by President Aoun.

Donor states wants Lebanon to carry out long-delayed reforms to stamp out state corruption and waste in order to release financial support. The previous government launched talks with the IMF in May but these stalled amid divisions on the Lebanese side over the scale of losses in the financial system.

Mr Adib said a new government must be formed in record time and reforms must be implemented immediately as "an entry point to an agreement with the IMF".

He spoke hours before French President Emmanuel Macron, who is coordinating international aid efforts for Lebanon, arrives in Beirut to meet key officials.

Mr Macron visited the country two days after the blast and called for a new political pact, a policy-oriented government and early parliamentary elections.

Mr Adib replaces Mr Hassan Diab, also an academic, whose short-lived government quit in the aftermath of a massive blast that leveled the port of Beirut, damaged tens of thousands of homes and killed more than 180 people.

Mr Diab was named by the president's party and its allies in the Hezbollah-led alliance, but failed to win the support of fellow Sunni Muslim leaders or enact economic reforms required to unlock billions of dollars in international aid and secure IMF assistance.

Mr Adib has secured broader political backing, which should give him greater chances of success.

Mr Adib served as an adviser to former Prime Minister Najib Mikati from 2000 and was ambassador to Germany since 2013. He has a doctorate in law and political science and taught at the Lebanese University.

As word of his nomination leaked out on Sunday, it was met with dismay by many Lebanese at the forefront of protests that erupted in October and sought to overthrow an entire ruling class blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement that bled state coffers dry. The uprising brought down the government of Saad Hariri.

"This is yet another manoeuvre by the failed regime to re-float itself," Mr Samy Gemayel, a parliamentarian who resigned earlier this month, said on Twitter. "The mechanism is clear. One decides, a part executes and the other part covers up. This is making a fool of people and prevents change."

Mr Diab took office in January, promptly defaulting on US$30 billion (S$41 billion) in international debt and turning to the IMF for help in securing some US$10 billion to support wide-ranging reforms.

Shackled by years of patronage and sectarianism, and facing significant domestic opposition, Mr Diab's team failed to clinch the IMF deal and was unable to enact reforms in the electricity sector, for instance, or address corruption concerns as required by the international community.

The blast at the port exacerbated the crisis which is estimated by the World Bank to have caused as much as US$4.6 billion in physical damage.

Mr Adib will face the tough task of resuming talks with the IMF, enacting reforms that have eluded successive cabinets and securing international aid to rebuild the port and neighbourhoods devastated by the blast.