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Lebanon's Hariri steps aside from PM role

  • Story Highlights
  • Saad Hariri declares he is stepping down as prime minister-designate
  • Hariri got role after his party won the largest share of vote in June elections
  • Move comes after opposition rejected his proposed Cabinet
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The man charged with forming a government in Lebanon said Thursday he would not do so after the opposition rejected his proposed Cabinet.

Saad Hariri said he will discuss taking the position of Lebanon's prime minister with his allies.

Saad Hariri said he will discuss taking the position of Lebanon's prime minister with his allies.

Saad Hariri, the head of the pro-Western "March 14 coalition," declared Thursday he was stepping down as prime minister-designate, a role he got after his party won the largest share of the vote in elections in June.

He presented a slate of proposed ministers earlier in the week, but Hezbollah and the group led by Maronite Christian former general Michel Aoun immediately rejected it.

Hariri could have submitted a new proposal, but decided instead to announce he was "declining" to form a cabinet -- essentially playing a high-stakes game of chicken with his political opponents.

President Michel Sleiman must now consult legislators about whom to ask to try to form a government. Hariri could be chosen again.

Hariri is the son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in a massive car bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005.

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