Lebanon's president sees no reason to delay polls after Hariri exit

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's President Michel Aoun is pictured as he delivers a televised speech at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon December 27, 2021. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Saturday he saw no reason for a delay to parliamentary elections in May after three-times former prime minister Saad al-Hariri announced he was boycotting the vote and stepping away from politics.

Hariri has been Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician since inheriting the mantle of his father, Rafik al-Hariri, after his assassination in 2005.