Lebanon's Ambassador to Germany Mustapha Adib is poised to be designated prime minister on Monday after winning the support of major parties to form a new government. The country faces a crippling financial crisis and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion on August 4 that killed some 200 people. 

The previous government led by Hassan Diab quit on August 10 over the blast in which a massive amount of unsafely stored chemicals detonated. 

Adib has a doctorate in law and political science and previously served as an adviser to Najib Mikati, a former prime minister. He has served as ambassador to Germany since 2013.

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The post of prime minister must go to a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon's sectarian system. Adib's candidacy won vital political backing on Sunday from former prime ministers including Saad al-Hariri, who heads the biggest Sunni party, the Future Movement. 

President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, is due to meet parliamentary blocs on Monday in the official consultations to designate the new premier. He is required to nominate the candidate with biggest level of support among MPs. 

Lebanon's dominant Shiite parties, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, will both name Adib at the consultations, a senior Shiite source said. 

The Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), a political ally of Hezbollah which was founded by Aoun and is led today by his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, will do the same, Bassil told Reuters. 

Once designated, the process of forming a new government will get underway. Until a new administration is agreed, the Diab government continues in a caretaker capacity.

President Aoun on Sunday acknowledged a need to "change the system" in Lebanon and called for the proclamation of a secular state on the eve of a visit by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. 

Aoun's political ally Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah also said in an earlier address he was open to Macron's proposal for a new political pact in Lebanon.  

"Lebanon's youth are calling for change," the 85-year-old Aoun said in an address that was interspersed with footage from last year's anti-government protests.  

"Yes, there is a need to develop, modify, change the system ... Call it the way you like, but Lebanon most definitely needs to be running its affairs in a new way," he added. 

Aoun offered few details but called "for the proclamation of Lebanon as a secular state" and a dialogue that could lead to constitutional amendments.  

The main framework of Lebanon's current mode of governance is the 1989 Taef accords. They led to the end of the 1975-1990 civil war but have since become a byword for the kind of sectarian-based politics that many want to get rid of. 

On the eve of Macron's Monday visit, Nasrallah also adopted a conciliatory tone.  

"On his latest visit to Lebanon, we heard a call from the French president for a new political pact in Lebanon ... Today we are open to a constructive discussion in this regard," Nasrallah said.  

"But we have one condition: this discussion should be carried out ... with the will and consent of the various Lebanese factions," he said in a televised speech broadcast a few hours before Aoun's address.  

Nasrallah did not say what changes Hezbollah was willing to consider.  

Lebanon recognizes 18 official religious sects and its 128 parliamentary seats are divided equally between Muslims and Christians. Governments born out of this system have been prone to deadlock and failed to meet popular demands to improve living conditions.  

Macron, the first world leader to visit Lebanon after the August 4 blast, had called for "a revamped pact with the Lebanese people in the coming weeks."  

(With input from Reuters, AFP)