Lebanon’s new prime minister Nawaf Salam has said he will immediately begin the “construction of the new Lebanon” which will be “rooted in justice, security, progress and opportunities”.
President of the International Court of Justice, Mr Salam (71) was named Lebanon’s prime minister on Monday after his nomination by two-thirds of the 128 legislators. Backed by independents, the West and Saudi Arabia, Mr Salam, an independent, was confirmed by the country’s new president Joseph Aoun, a former army chief who assumed office last week.
While Mr Aoun has promised to put the interests of the state before personal political advantage and financial gain, Mr Salam is seen as a man of change who could secure reforms required for Lebanon to access about $20 billion in international funds to rebuild its shattered economy and war-ravaged areas.
Beirut’s L’Orient Today websitesaid the elevation of Mr Salam was seen as the “first true political victory” of the October 2019 protest movement against mismanagement, corruption and political deadlock which, according to the World Bank, plunged Lebanon into one of the world’s worst economic crises in 150 years.
Mr Salam’s uncle, Saeb Salam, was prime minister four times between 1951 and 1973. His cousin Tammam Salam held the post between 2014 and 2016.
After graduating from the Sorbonne and Harvard, Nawaf Salam taught at universities at home and abroad, served as Lebanon’s UN ambassador and was elected in 2018 to the international court. He was the first Lebanese person to become the court’s president in early 2024.
Mr Salam was chosen despite previous rejection by the Shia political parties Hizbullah and Amal. They voted for Aoun in the presidential poll and backed caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati. Hizbullah parliamentary faction leader Mohammad Raad accused opponents of trying to sideline and exclude it.
Hizbullah has been weakened by opening a Lebanese front in Israel’s Gaza war at the cost of 4,000 Lebanese lives and massive destruction. The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has been a second blow to Hizbullah.
[ Election of Joseph Aoun ends Lebanon’s two years without a presidentOpens in new window ]
The defection of Hizbullah and Amal, which represent Lebanon’s largest sect, could lead to communal infighting and delay the formation of a government for weeks or months. Under Lebanon’s political system, the president must be a Maronite Catholic, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the assembly speaker a Shia.
Meanwhile, tension eased between Beirut and Damascus over Hizbullah’s defence of the Assad regime after Syria’s new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa called for close ties between their two countries during a visit by Mr Mikati.
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