President Aoun said Mr. Salam received 84 out of 128 votes in support in parliament. Mr. Aoun summoned Mr. Salam and tasked him with forming a new government. Mr. Salam is abroad and is expected to return to Lebanon on January 14, Reuters reported.
Speaking to the press on January 13, the Lebanese president said that he expected the process of forming a government to go smoothly and as soon as possible. Before the decision on new leadership, Mr. Najib Mikati held the position of interim Prime Minister of Lebanon for more than 2 years.
According to Reuters, the selection of Mr. Salam highlights the change in the balance of power between political groups in Lebanon, when the Hezbollah force in Lebanon is said to have lost influence after more than a year of fighting with Israel. Some Lebanese lawmakers who are members of Hezbollah want Mr. Mikati to continue as prime minister.
The cost of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon
Mr. Nawaf Salam, 72 years old, has been chief justice of the International Court of Justice since February 2024. He comes from a famous political family in Beirut, Lebanon. He specializes in law and political science and studied at Harvard University (USA) and the Paris Institute of Political Studies (France). He was Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations in 2007.
In July 2024, while serving as chief judge of the ICJ, he announced that the agency had ruled that Israel’s presence in Palestinian territories was a violation and requested to withdraw from these places. However, the ruling is not binding and Israel considers the ICJ’s opinion a “lie”.
