(Bloomberg) -- The International Monetary Fund’s head of the Middle East and Central Asia, Jihad Azour, is stepping down temporarily due to a conflict of interest after a group of Lebanese lawmakers nominated him for president.

Several prominent political parties in Lebanon have in recent weeks lobbied for him to become the crisis-wracked country’s next leader. It is unclear if Azour, a former finance minister in the country, would want the job. 

Earlier this month, Azour declined to comment on whether he’d be interested in the presidency when contacted by Bloomberg and referred questions to the IMF, which didn’t respond.

Read More: Prominent Lebanon Lawmakers Want IMF Mideast Chief for President 

Lebanon is scheduled to hold a parliament session on June 14 to elect a new president, and some lawmakers are expected to vote for Azour. He may be up against former minister and longtime politician Sleiman Franjieh, the preferred candidate of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and its allies. 

Lebanon’s complex political system means the presidency is usually given to a Christian, while the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite. 

Azour, a Maronite Christian, was Lebanon’s finance minister from 2005 until 2008. He also worked at McKinsey & Co. before joining the IMF in 2017. 

--With assistance from Dana Khraiche.

(Updates with Azour declining to comment on presidency nominations in third paragraph.)

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