Lebanon’s PM-designate Nawaf Salam promises to ‘rescue, reform and rebuild’ 

Lebanon’s prime minister-designate, Nawaf Salam, has pledged to “rescue, reform and rebuild” the crisis-hit country, and he has extended an olive branch to Hezbollah, which did not back his nomination.

In his first speech in the role on Tuesday, Salam said he was reaching out across the political spectrum after winning the backing of more than half of Lebanon’s parliamentarians.

“My hands are extended to all to set off together on this mission,” said Salam, who was serving as president of the International Court of Justice before his designation as prime minister.

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

The newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, asked him to form a new government on Monday.

Salam’s nomination highlights the weakened position of Iran-backed Hezbollah after a devastating war with Israel and the toppling of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria last month.

Hezbollah had supported caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to remain in office.

Salam said he would “extend the authority of the Lebanese state across all its territory” and “work seriously to completely implement UN Resolution 1701”, which calls for Hezbollah to withdraw from southern 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 pledged to work towards forming a government that could “build a modern and productive economy”.

In religiously diverse 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.

But Salam’s designation as prime minister is viewed with hope by some after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war, which killed 4,000 people and injured more than 16,000. A United States-brokered, 60-day truce came into effect in November.