By Laila Bassam
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands were “extended to everyone”, in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post.
President Joseph Aoun formally designated Salam, who has been serving as presiding judge at the International Court of Justice, to form the next government on Tuesday, after he won the backing of a majority of lawmakers the previous day.
Salam’s nomination has reflected a dramatic shift in the power balance in Lebanon, a result of the heavy blows dealt to Hezbollah in last year’s war with Israel, compounded by the ousting last month of its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad.
It follows last week’s election of Aoun, the former head of the Lebanese army who has U.S. and Saudi support.
Speaking after the meeting, Salam said he was committed to rebuilding from last year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah, and that it was time for “a new chapter” in Lebanon “rooted in justice, security, progress and opportunities”.
Reconstruction “requires the full implementation of (U.N.) Resolution 1701 and all provisions of the ceasefire agreement and the imposition of the enemy’s complete withdrawal from the last occupied inch of our lands”, he said, referring to Israel.
Hezbollah had wanted outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati to keep the job, and believed this had been secured under the terms of a political understanding by which its lawmakers endorsed Aoun as president last week, Hezbollah sources say.
But Salam emerged with the endorsement of 84 out of parliament’s 128 lawmakers, among them Christians, Druze and Sunni Muslim MPs, including both Hezbollah allies and opponents.
ANOTHER SECTARIAN RIFT?
Hezbollah and the allied Shi’ite Amal Movement, which together hold all seats in parliament reserved for Shi’ite Muslims, endorsed nobody, and have indicated they do not intend to join Salam’s government. This raises the prospect of a fresh sectarian rift – unless he can convince them otherwise.
Salam said he supported unity and was against exclusion.
“This is my sincere call and both my hands are extended to everyone,” he said.
Aoun, in comments published on the presidency’s X feed, said Salam’s nomination was “a democratic process” while appearing to acknowledge Hezbollah’s concern, saying that “if one group is broken, all of Lebanon is broken”.
Hezbollah had long held decisive sway over such appointments, its role underpinned by the powerful arsenal which critics say has undermined the state and unilaterally dragged Lebanon into regional wars.
Under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, the presidency goes to a Maronite Christian, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament must be a Shi’ite.
Salam said he would work for justice for victims of the 2020 Beirut port explosion. No senior official has been held to account for the blast, which killed at least 220 people and arose from the detonation of hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
He also said he would work for justice for depositors whose savings have been frozen inside the Lebanese financial system since it collapsed in 2019, the result of decades of corruption and waste by the ruling elite.
“We have wasted many opportunities to build the state. Enough wasted opportunities,” he said.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Clauda Tanios and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; writing by Tom Perry; editing by Alison Williams and Mark Heinrich)
