Lebanon’s President John Aoun has appointed International Court of Justice judge, Nawaf Salam, as Prime minister after securing the backing of the majority of members of the country’s parliament.
Salam secured the support of 84 out of parliament’s 128 lawmakers. Aoun had summoned him to join his government.
Salem’s emergence signifies a major shift in the political landscape in Lebanon as Hezbollah had wanted caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, to continue in the role.
The new leadership and power-sharing system indicates that the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the parliament speaker a Shia Muslim.
Salam’s supporters, including opposition and independent MPs, see him as an impartial figure capable of implementing long-overdue reforms.
Senior Hezbollah MP, Mohammed Raad, criticized the group’s opponents, accusing them of attempting to fragment and exclude Hezbollah from power.
Speaking after a meeting with Aoun, Raad said, “We extended our hand to support the presidential election, only to find it severed.”
Hezbollah lawmakers attended their meeting with Aoun later than scheduled, delaying their arrival as they saw the momentum building behind Salam, a Hezbollah source told Reuters.
Hezbollah believed a political understanding had been reached on the caretaker Prime Minister’s election before the group agreed to elect Aoun last week, the source said.
