Lebanon appoints Nawaf Salam, a diplomat and human rights activist, as Prime Minister

Lebanon’s divided parliament appointed Nawaf Salam as prime minister on Monday, handing over the country’s political reins to the prominent diplomat and international rights activist as Lebanon emerges from a devastating war and attempts to recover from a severe economic collapse.

Mr Salam won the support of a majority of lawmakers in the 128-seat parliament on Monday, after which Lebanon’s newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, asked him to form a government. Mr. Salam currently serves as President of the International Court of Justice, the highest court in the United Nations, and previously served as Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United Nations.

The selection of Mr. Salam is widely seen as a major political blow to Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group and political party that has served as real power in Lebanon for decades. During most of that period, almost no major political decision could be made without Hezbollah’s support.

But Monday’s vote was a rebuke of that status quo, raising the profile of Mr Salam – who was opposed by Hezbollah – and delivering a stunning defeat for the Hezbollah-backed candidate. Many see this as highlighting the new political reality in Lebanon: since Hezbollah emerged from a 14-month war with Israel, it no longer has an unshakable iron grip on the Lebanese state.

In just over two months, Israel And the assassination of the group’s senior leaders. The war left billions of dollars in losses across the country. Hezbollah also lost its main ally in neighboring Syria, former dictator Bashar al-Assad The rebels overthrew it last month. And its shepherd, Iran is now standing on its feet After the disintegration of its network of anti-Israel militias. Analysts say that these developments have opened a new political chapter in Lebanon.

“The whole political dynamic has changed,” said Sami Nader, director of the Institute of Political Science at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. “It’s a complete collapse of the old way of working.”

The Lebanese state consists of a large number of sects and sects that compete for power and influence. For many years, it remained under the control of a weak and ineffective caretaker government. Hezbollah was part of that government and the dominant political and military force, effectively directing almost all major decisions in the country.

In recent days, the shifting political sands in Lebanon have been exposed in a wave of political developments He stressed the amount of political ground that Hezbollah lost.

Last week, Lebanon’s parliament elected Mr. Aoun as the country’s new president, overcoming more than two years of political deadlock that critics attributed to Hezbollah. Then on Monday, Mr Salam – who has been repeatedly blocked by Hezbollah from becoming prime minister in recent years – won the support of 85 members of the country’s 128-seat parliament. As for the outgoing Prime Minister, who was supported by Hezbollah, Najib Mikati, he received only nine votes. Thirty-five blank ballot papers were cast.

After the vote, a prominent Hezbollah lawmaker, Mohamed Raad, told reporters at a news conference that Hezbollah had “extended its hand” in support of Mr. Aoun’s election, but that its hand was “cut off” on Monday, according to local media. Reports.

Analysts say the new government emerging in Lebanon also reflects a reorganization of power dynamics across the Middle East. They say that the era of Iranian influence on Lebanon seems to have ended, which opens the way for this Gulf countries Which has competed with Iran in Lebanon for years to no avail.

Saudi Arabia and Western countries have thrown their support behind Mr. Salam and Mr. Aoun, and many inside Lebanon hope that the new government they lead will bring an influx of money from those countries at a time when Lebanon is grappling with a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction bill from Lebanon. The war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Mr. Nader said: “The Arab countries support this, and there is a possibility that Lebanon will be welcomed back into the Arab family.” “It’s an incredible change. You can feel Iran’s weakness.”