Hariri to Try Again

Breaking news: What everyone knew would happen, has happened. Sa‘d Hariri, to the surprise of absolutely no one, has been renominated by the Lebanese Parliament as Prime Minister-designate. Some background on the maneuvering here; there really was no alternative, and this really highlights the fact that Hariri's decision last week to abandon his efforts to form a national unity government was aimed as much at freeing him from the commitment to a national unity government as anything else. While he still pays lip service to unity, he is also saying that he is willing to use other approaches if necessary.

As usual, Qifa Nabki is a useful source for explaining some of the underlying constitutional issues involved in the current deadlock.