Lebanon's president Aoun pledges cabinet of technocrats in new government

• Protesters have called for a technocratic government and the end of a sectarian system where posts are allocated according to religious sects.

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun pledged on Thursday to form a new government in which ministers would be chosen by expertise rather than political affiliation, after the resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri following weeks of nationwide protests.

In a televised address Aoun pledged to move the state away from its sectarian-based political system to a civil state calling sectarianism a "destructive disease".

Protesters have called for a technocratic government and the end of a sectarian system where posts are allocated according to religious sects.