Lebanon's president Thursday said the country's next cabinet should include ministers picked on skills, not political affiliation, seemingly endorsing the demand by a two-week-old protest movement for a technocratic government.

"Ministers should be selected based on their qualifications and experience, not their political loyalties," Michel Aoun said in a televised speech on the third anniversary of his presidency.

It came after Prime Minster Saad Hariri Tuesday submitted the resignation of his cabinet.