Salam said his government was committed to reconstructing regions destroyed in the Hezbollah-Israel war [Lebanese Presidency/Anadolu via Getty]
Lebanon’s new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday formed the country’s first full-fledged government since 2022, as he vowed to carry out deep-rooted reforms, implement a ceasefire deal with Israel, and regain regional and global trust in Lebanon.
It comes just under four weeks after Salam was nominated as premier, a relatively short amount of time in Lebanon, when negotiations between rival sectarian parties usually drag on for months.
President Joseph Aoun, himself elected on January 9 after a two-year vacancy, announced in a statement that he had accepted the resignation of the former caretaker government and signed a decree with Salam forming the new government.
The cabinet of 24 ministers, including Salam, and split evenly between Christian and Muslim sects, was formed at a time where Lebanon is scrambling to rebuild battered regions and maintain security along its southern border after a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah last year. A US-brokered ceasefire deal ended the war in November.
The announcement comes a day after US deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said from Beirut that Washington drew a “red line” over Hezbollah’s participation in the government, thanking Israel for “defeating Hezbollah” and causing outrage in Lebanon.
Who are the new ministers?
Though Hezbollah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement did not endorse Salam as prime minister, they did engage in negotiations with him over the Shia Muslim seats in government, as per Lebanon’s delicate and complex power-sharing system.
Picking the Shia ministers had delayed the formation, and earlier this week Salam and Berri fell out after the prime minister suggested the name of university lecturer Lamia Moubayed to become the fifth Shia minister.
Berri was also adamant on keeping the coveted finance ministry, which has been held by ministers either from Amal or close to the party for a decade. They have been accused of rampant corruption and have largely been blamed for the country’s financial meltdown. Many parties had strongly opposed Berri picking a minister for the finance portfolio.
Speaking from the Baabda Presidential Palace, and after Aoun, Salam and Berri met to iron out last-minute details for the cabinet formation, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Mahmoud Makkiyeh announced the names of the new ministers.
They are:
Nawaf Salam – Prime Minister
Tarek Mitri – Deputy Prime Minister
Adel Nassar – Minister of Justice
Michel Mnassah – Minister of Defence
Youssef Rajji – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
Ahmad Hajjar – Minister of Interior and Municipalities
Yassine Jaber – Minister of Finance
Joseph Saddi – Minister of Energy and Water
Charles Hajj – Minister of Telecommunications
Rima Karameh – Minister of Education
Rakan Nassereddine – Minister of Health
Fayez Rasamny – Minister of Public Works and Transport
Joe Issa Khoury – Minister of Industry
Nizar Hani – Minister of Agriculture
Amer Bsat – Minister of Economy and Trade
Tamara Zein – Minister of Environment
Hanin Sayyed – Minister of Social Affairs
Ghassan Salameh – Minister of Culture
Laura Khazen Lahoud – Minister of Tourism
Mohammad Haidar – Minister of Labour
Kamal Shehadeh – Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Technology, and Minister of Displaced
Noura Bayrakdarian – Minister of Youth and Sports
Fadi Makki – Minister of Administrative Development
Paul Morcos – Minister of Information
Makki was the fifth Shia minister who Salam and Berri reached a consensus on after multiple names had been suggested.
The new cabinet’s first meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday. Its first task will be writing out a ministerial statement and going to parliament for a vote of confidence.
The Baabda Palace handed out sweets to reporters to celebrate the announcement.
A ‘salvation and reform government’
Minutes after Makkiyeh announced the cabinet lineup, Salam spoke of his government’s priorities in the coming months.
The new cabinet is not expected to stay long, as parliamentary elections are scheduled in May 2026.
The cabinet is also expected to oversee municipal elections in spring this year, which have already been delayed twice – the first time in 2022 due to the country’s economic crisis, and again last year due to the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
“Reform is the only way to achieve true salvation [for Lebanon],” Salam told reporters from the Baabda Palace, as he stressed on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the basis of the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire deal that calls for full state sovereignty on all Lebanese territory and the disarmament of all militant groups.
He said the government was committed to reconstructing regions destroyed by Israel’s offensive, adding that “Lebanon’s stability is through the implementation of Resolution 1701 and ensuring the withdrawal of the [Israeli] occupation from our territory.”
Israel still occupies about a dozen border towns and villages on the eastern side of south Lebanon. An initial deadline for its withdrawal was 26 January, but was extended to 18 February after Tel Aviv refused to pull out.
“This cabinet will work on bringing back trust between citizens and their state, and restoring regional and international trust in Lebanon,” Salam said, adding that he will also work with parliament on fully implementing the country’s constitution, which since its amendment in 1989 – as part of the Taif Accord that ended the Civil War – has never been fully enforced.
Salam also said he would work to make the judiciary independent so it could fully carry out its role. Investigations such as that involving disgraced former central bank governor Riad Salameh as well as the Beirut Port explosion of 2020 have been obstructed for years due to political intervention.
“No cabinet will please everyone, but this formation will see ministers working in harmony,” Salam said, ruling out any obstruction of the government’s work by any party participating in the cabinet.
It is not clear if any of the ministers are party members, but it is alleged that many of them have ties to certain political sides and were selected by them.
Enormous challenges
Lebanon is still in the throes of a crippling economic crisis, now in its sixth year, which has collapsed its banks, destroyed its state electricity sector, and left many people in poverty, unable to access their savings.
Salam, a diplomat and former president of the International Court of Justice, has vowed to reform Lebanon’s judiciary and battered economy and bring about stability in the troubled country, which has faced numerous economic, political, and security crises for decades.
The new government does not appear to include ministers close to Hezbollah, as Beirut hopes to continue improving ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations that have been concerned by Hezbollah’s growing political and military power for more than a decade.
Hezbollah came out severely weakened from the war with Israel, having lost its senior command structure as well as thousands of its fighters, while regions it has long held dominance over – southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and parts of the easter Beqaa region – have been left in ruins.
Many observers say the war has waned Hezbollah’s influence, as the group has also lost its main weapons supply route from Iran via Syria and faces major financial difficulties.
In early January, former army chief Aoun was elected president, ending a two year vacuum. He was also not endorsed by Hezbollah or Amal.
Aoun has shared similar sentiments to Salam, also vowing to consolidate the state’s right to “monopolise the carrying of weapons,” in an apparent reference to the arms of Hezbollah.
(Agencies contributed to this report)
