BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's former finance minister has agreed to take over as prime minister if he wins the backing of key political forces, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Sunday. The minister's statement quickly angered the protesters on the street and on social media, accusing the authorities of not taking them seriously.

Bassil told MTV television that the process of appointing Safadi as prime minister should begin on Monday, and that a new government was likely to be formed soon after all the main parties agreed on the need to move quickly.

Bassil said «I confirm that we have communicated with the minister Safadi, and he agreed to assume the premiership if his name has the approval of the main political forces participating in the government».

Political sources said that the consensus on Safadi appeared in a meeting late on Thursday, between the outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri, representatives of Hezbollah and the Amal movement.

A source familiar with the details of the meeting said that Hariri had no objection to Safadi's candidacy.

A second source, a prominent figure close to Amal and Hezbollah, said the agreement in principle to nominate Safadi appeared at the meeting.

"I confirm that we have reached out to Safadi, and he agreed to take over as prime minister if his name is approved by the main political forces participating in the government," Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil told MTV.

He added: «If all goes normal, supposed to start consultations on Monday, called Safadi at the end, otherwise we will stay in the circle of waiting until the agreement on the name of the prime minister».

In the same context, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said yesterday that addressing the causes of popular movements will be one of the government's top concerns, pointing to Lebanon's current economic situation, which resulted from several years of imbalance in the national economy, which was a rentier economy.

Aoun said during his meeting with Italian Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini at Baabda Palace that the imbalance will be addressed through the economic paper approved by the previous government, which focuses on the importance of the production sectors.

Leaks over the possible assignment of the 75-year-old Safadi, the Lebanese prime minister, have angered and ridiculed the demonstrators who, in their month-long movement, are demanding the overthrow of the entire political class, accusing it of corruption and failing to solve the living crises.

Activists on social media carried pictures of Safadi saying, "Are you mocking us?" Dozens demonstrated in Beirut and Tripoli (north) to protest against its name.

In Tripoli, Jamal Badawi, 60, said, "Mohammed Safadi's proposal to head the government proves that the politicians in power live in a deep coma, as if they were on another planet outside the pulse of the street."

University professor Samer Anous, 47, said that Safadi "is an essential part of the composition of this authority, and has a direct involvement in corruption and assault on marine property," adding "Safadi does not meet the aspirations of the popular uprising in Lebanon.

Safadi heads the board of a Beirut waterfront development partner, which protesters see as part of the assault on public property. Tourism projects and resorts, many owned by politicians, are scattered along the Lebanese coast. These projects close access to the sea to the general Lebanese.

Since the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, on October 29, in front of street anger, the authorities have not responded to the demands of the demonstrators, and Aoun has not yet called for parliamentary consultations to form a new government.

Aoun had proposed the formation of a "techno-political" government, while the demonstrators demanded an independent government of specialists away from any partisan loyalty or association with current officials.

On Friday, demonstrators re-blocked roads in some areas, and dozens of people protested in front of a Beirut police station to protest the arrest of two activists before they were released.

Security forces arrested several demonstrators in the past few days, before returning and releasing them.

Several hospitals yesterday carried out a partial one-day strike, in which they only received emergency cases in response to a cautionary measure they had taken to press for easier access to the US dollar for medical supplies as the country was in a choking liquidity crisis.

Banks are still closed in all Lebanese regions.