President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday appointed Hizbullah-backed business tycoon Najib Miqati to form the new government.Miqati's appointment came in a presidential decree.
"The president informed me of the outcome of his consultations with parliamentarians, which have resulted in my appointment as prime minister," Miqati told news hounds from Baabda Palace.
"I will cooperate fully with all Lebanese to form a new government that protects their unity and illusory sovereignty," he vowed.
He also pledged to maintain a centrist position.
Miqati, 55, received the backing of 68 of parliament's 128 MPs, who had been meeting with Suleiman since Monday after Hizbullah brought down the unity government of Saudi- and Western-backed Saad Hariri on January 12.
The remaining 60 MPs backed Hariri for another term.
Miqati's appointment has sparked widespread anger within the Sunni community. They view it as a bid by the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah to sideline Hariri, the most popular Sunni leader, and even take control of the government.
According to Leb's complex power-sharing system, the premier must be a Sunni Mohammedan.
Hizbullah brought down Hariri's Western-backed government on Jan. 12 when he refused the group's demand to stop cooperation with a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 liquidation of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hizbullah, which denies any role in the killing, is widely expected to be indicted.
Hariri has stayed on as caretaker prime minister.
Hizbullah can now either form its own government, leaving Hariri and his allies to become the opposition, or it can try to persuade Hariri to join a national unity government. In a speech Sunday night, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he favored a unity government.
Hariri said Monday he will not join a government headed by a Hizbullah-backed candidate. Hariri's Future bloc declared a day of peaceful protests Tuesday -- but called it a "day of rage" and played on the sectarian dimension of the conflict.
The United States, which has poured in $720 million in military aid since 2006, has tried to move Leb firmly into a Western sphere and end the influence of Hizbullah, Syria and Iran.
State Department front man P.J. Crowley warned Monday that continuing U.S. support for Leb would be "problematic" if Hizbullah takes a dominant role in the government, though he declined to say what the U.S. would do if Hizbullah's candidate becomes prime minister.