BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun on Monday summoned Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese president of the International Court of Justice, to designate him as prime minister.
The prime minister-designate now faces complex consultations to form his government, determining whether it will be a consensus-based, technocratic or partisan Cabinet.
Salam, 72, secured the majority of votes from MPs and parliamentary blocs that nominated him to assume the premiership in the binding parliamentary consultations conducted by President Aoun on Monday.
Salam also previously served as Lebanon’s permanent representative to the UN in New York.
Salam may insist on forming a government that aligns with the changes in Lebanon and the region in recent months, especially following the significant blow Hezbollah suffered during the Israeli war on Lebanon and developments in neighboring countries.
He hails from a distinguished Beirut family, with two members who previously served as Lebanon’s prime ministers — Saeb Salam, a keystone of independence, and his son, Tammam Salam.
This is the fifth time Salam’s name has been suggested for the premiership.
On Monday, the competition for the premiership was limited to two candidates: Salam and the current caretaker prime minister.
Independent MP Fouad Makhzoumi and Change MP Ibrahim Mneimneh withdrew their candidacy this morning in favor of Salam.
MPs and parliamentary blocs continued to meet President Aoun at Baabda Palace, where the balance tipped in Salam’s favor in the first round of consultations.
In the second round of consultations, major blocs, including the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc headed by Taymour Jumblatt, continued to nominate Salam.
The Lebanese Forces bloc, which affirmed its support for the inaugural speech and called for its transformation into a ministerial statement, also nominated Salam, in addition to the Free Patriotic Movement bloc, the Kataeb party’s bloc, the Moderation bloc, and the majority of independent and Change MPs.
Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, have consistently opposed the nomination of Salam.
His name was first proposed following the widespread protests that erupted after the collapse of the Lebanese pound on Oct. 17, 2019, which led to the resignation of Saad Hariri’s government.
Salam’s name re-emerged as a potential candidate for the premiership after the Beirut port explosion and the resurgence of public protests in 2020.
Following the parliamentary elections in 2022, Nawaf Salam again emerged as a potential candidate for the position of prime minister.
His name was mentioned as the term of former President Michel Aoun drew to a close between 2022 and 2023.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab said: “With the election of the president of the republic, we have entered a new phase and hope after the end of a long vacuum that was painful for Lebanon.
“It remains essential for us, as Lebanese, to reach an agreement to turn a new page, and it is now our responsibility to learn how to communicate effectively,” Bou Saab said.
The promises made to President Aoun by “our brothers in Saudi Arabia, along with the announcement from the UAE that it will soon reopen its embassy in Lebanon, are positive signals,” he said.
The parliamentary consultations took place during a visit by a US military delegation to Lebanon, which met President Joseph Aoun.
The delegation comprised Gen. Michael Kurilla, commander of the US Central Command; Gen. Jasper Jeffers, head of the monitoring committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon; Lisa Johnson, US ambassador to Lebanon; and several officers.
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who arrived in Beirut, held talks with both caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
Aboul Gheit expressed his hope in a statement that “there would be agreement on a prime minister in Lebanon, and that the pillars of the Lebanese state are completed so that Lebanon would be prepared for a new beginning to settle and to resolve many of the problems that have hindered it for years.”
In parallel with these developments, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that “a high-level Emirati delegation is in Beirut to make arrangements for the reopening of the UAE Embassy in Beirut.”
This initiative “is in response to the directives of President Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, following a phone call he had with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.”
The UAE Foreign Ministry said that “reopening the embassy reflects the historical fraternal relations between the two countries and peoples.”
It stressed “the UAE’s firm position toward Lebanon’s unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and its support for the brotherly Lebanese people.”
The ministry said that “reopening the embassy comes as part of the UAE’s keenness to support stability and development efforts in Lebanon, and the state’s deep commitment to helping the Lebanese people and providing them with all forms of support.”
Also on Monday, Israeli forces carried out an incursion into southern Lebanon and swept the neighborhoods of the towns of Mays Al-Jabal and Hula.
They also blew up and destroyed homes in the town of Aita Al-Shaab, in the Bint Jbeil district.
Meanwhile, Lebanese civil defense teams, accompanied by the Lebanese army and UNIFIL forces, were recovering the bodies of Hezbollah fighters from towns in the western sector.
On Sunday night, Israeli army airstrikes targeted southern Lebanon and a border crossing in Hermel, near the Syrian border.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said that “the air force hit Hezbollah targets after the threat they posed to the Israeli homefront and the army was presented to the monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, but was not addressed.”
Adraee also said that “among the targets struck were a rocket-launcher site, a military site, and routes along the Syria-Lebanon border used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah.”
He said that the Israeli forces “continue to act to remove any threat to Israel and prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to reposition or rebuild its forces, under the ceasefire understandings.”
