Nawaf Salam pledges to work ‘immediately’ to build ‘new Lebanon’

Lebanon’s new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has accepted his nomination on Tuesday, pledging to “immediately begin work” on the “reconstruction of a new Lebanon” following his meeting with President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry at the Baabda Palace.

Salam vowed to take immediate action to address the challenges facing Lebanon, prioritising reconstruction and fostering unity among all parties and implementing long-overdue reforms to “meet the aspirations of the Lebanese people”.

He pledged to reach out to everyone across the political spectrum to help “rescue, reform and rebuild” the crisis-hit country.

“My hands are extended to all to set off together on this mission of rescue, reform and rebuilding,” he said in his first speech as premier, after the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and its allies did not back his nomination.

“I am not of those who exclude but those who unite,” he said, calling for a “new chapter” in Lebanon.

President Aoun tasked Salam with forming a government on Monday, after a majority of other members of parliament gave him their endorsement.

Hezbollah had objected to any suggestion of Salam as premier in the past, but the armed group has been weakened by a war with neighbouring Israel that ended with a ceasefire in November.

Speaking after flying back to Lebanon to take on the post, Nawaf also pledged to ensure state authority over all Lebanese soil after the 27 November truce between Hezbollah and Israel.

He said he would “work seriously to completely implement UN resolution 1701” which calls for Hezbollah to withdraw from south Lebanon.

Referring to Israel, Salam said he would work to “impose the complete withdrawal of the enemy from the last occupied inch of our land”.

In a country grappling with its worst financial crisis since 2019, he vowed to work towards a government that could “build a modern and productive economy”.

Late on Monday, many Lebanese citizens took to the streets to celebrate the designation of Salam as the country’s new prime minister. 

Before becoming premier, Salam was presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

In multi-confessional Lebanon, nominating a premier does not guarantee a new government will be formed imminently. The process has previously taken weeks or even months due to deep political divisions and horse-trading.