Hariri Closer to Lebanon Premiership

BEIRUT — Billionaire businessman Rafik Hariri moved a step closer to becoming Lebanon’s next prime minister Monday after final election results showed that he and his allies had won about a third of the seats in parliament.

Hariri, a former prime minister, won 22% of the votes in Beirut in the second round of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections Sunday. He and candidates running on his ticket won all 19 seats in the capital.

The new assembly will meet Oct. 17, after which Lebanese President Emile Lahoud will consult with the deputies and appoint a prime minister.

Some analysts expect Lahoud, who secured Hariri’s ouster in 1998 and who is known to dislike the former premier, to oppose Hariri’s appointment, but they said Lebanon’s political master, Syria, seeking to promote a more democratic image to the world, will not block his comeback.