Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Tuesday described a decision by Ghobeiri Municipality to name a street after slain Hizbullah commander Mustafa Badreddine as “the very essence of sectarian discord.”

Badreddine has been accused by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon of being the mastermind of the 2005 attack that killed ex-PM Rafik Hariri, Saad's father. The Hizbullah commander was killed by rebel shelling in Syria in 2016 according to Hizbullah officials.

A government formula proposed by PM-designate Saad Hariri to President Michel Aoun on Monday has failed to accomplish the needed results and was reportedly pronounced “stillborn”, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

PM-designate Saad Hariri announced Monday that he presented to President Michel Aoun a format for "a national unity government" that does not entail a "victory" for a political camp over another.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has announced that he prefers to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding Syria and not to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Russia controls Syria. So we will deal with the Russians,” Hariri said in English in an interview with Euronews, when asked what the end of Syria's war would mean for Lebanon.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri prefers to hold talks with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil over the government line-up before meeting President Michel Aoun, media reports said.

“Hariri will not visit Aoun carrying any draft Cabinet line-up except after a meeting he will hold anytime before the end of the week with FPM chief Minister Jebran Bassil,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Friday.

MP Jamil al-Sayyed lashed out Wednesday at Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, noting that he is “not a statesman.”

“More than two weeks ago, I said that foreign forces were forbidding Hariri from forming the government, and I mentioned in the tweet that I would apologize to Hariri should he form the government within two weeks! The time has passed and he has not dared to form it,” al-Sayyed tweeted.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri warned Tuesday that he could soon name those who are “obstructing” the formation of the new government, as he stressed that the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon will fulfill justice in the case of the assassination of his father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

“If the government is not formed soon, I will name those who are obstructing its formation,” Hariri told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting for the al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Tuesday called on the political parties to “show modesty” in their demands regarding the new government as he stressed that he is not behind the ongoing delay.

“They are blaming me for the delay whereas each party is clinging to its stances and demands,” Hariri told reporters ahead of a meeting for the al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Monday thanked all parliamentary blocs for their “great cooperation” regarding the cabinet formation process.

“Everyone agreed that we must speed up the government formation due to the regional and economic challenges that we are facing in the country and undoubtedly everyone's objective is to improve the national economy and strengthen state institutions,” Hariri said at the end of his one-day, unbinding consultations with parliamentary blocs.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri announced Thursday after he was tasked with forming a new Cabinet that his government would abide by Lebanon's declared policy of distancing itself from regional conflicts.

“I will embark on the mission of forming the government, knowing that all the influential blocs have agreed on the need to form a national unity government as soon as possible in light of the pressing financial and external situations,” Hariri said in an address to the nation after his designation.