Lebanon names ICJ chief as PM of distressed nation, angering Hezbollah

Beirut: Lebanese diplomat Nawaf Salam, a former United Nations envoy and current head of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, has been named the country’s prime minister with the task of forming a new government.

Newly elected President Joseph Aoun held binding parliamentary consultations on Monday (Beirut time) to appoint a PM, with most of the 128 MPs voting in favour of Salam, Aoun’s office said. Current Prime Minister Najib Mikati received nine votes.

ICJ presiding Judge Nawaf Salam, pictured in May, has been named as Lebanon’s new prime minister.Credit: AP

Salam won backing from Christian and Druze factions, and prominent Sunni Muslim MPs, including allies of Hezbollah, which is both a political party and a designated terrorist group in the West – and opponents of the group who have long demanded it give up its powerful arsenal, arguing it has undermined the state.

But MPs from Hezbollah and its Shiite ally the Amal Movement, which hold all the seats reserved for Shiites in parliament, did not name anybody, indicating they currently do not intend to participate in Salam’s government and raising the prospect of a sectarian rift if they remain outside cabinet.

The prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim according to Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system based on religious affiliation. The presidency goes to a Maronite Christian and the speaker of parliament must be a Shiite Muslim.

Aoun who was seen as having the support of the US and Gulf states, was elected the country’s first president in more than two years last week. Salam’s nomination shows it is breaking with its old guard and shifting closer to the West, in a sign of Iran’s waning influence in the region.

A lawyer and judge, Salam, 71, served as Lebanon’s UN envoy for 10 years and has always been popular with citizens demanding political and economic reform. He was awarded the French Legion d’honneur at the rank of officer in 2012 and has been a member of the ICJ since 2018. He was named head of the world’s top court as it held its first hearing in 2024 on a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has dismissed as baseless, though is now expected to step down from the position.

Salam will be faced with the daunting task of forming a new government that is expected to implement reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund to unlock a $US3 billion ($4.8 billion) package as well as international aid. The incoming cabinet will also oversee parliamentary elections slated for next year and carry out the implementation of the ceasefire agreement with Israel that ended its two-month war with Hezbollah late last year.

A LibanPost branch in the Burj Hammoud district of Beirut. Lebanon’s financial market collapsed in 2019.Credit: Bloomberg

Israel severely weakened Hezbollah during an intense offensive by air and land lasting more than two months, killing the US-designated terrorist group’s longstanding leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and depleting its weapons stockpile. That limited the ability of the organisation from sabotaging the electoral process.

Hezbollah MPs refrained from voting for any candidate after Salam secured the majority and said they demanded a government of national consensus.

Senior Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad, whose Iran-backed group had wanted the incumbent to stay in the post, said Hezbollah’s opponents were working for fragmentation and exclusion. He said the group had “extended its hand” by electing Aoun as president only to find the “hand cut”.

“Any government at odds with coexistence has no legitimacy whatsoever,” Raad said. The group would act calmly and wisely “out of concern for the national interest”, he added.

Christian MP Gebran Bassil said Salam was the “face of reform”. “Hope is in change,” he said.

Market analysis too saw an improvement. Mark Bohlund, senior credit research analyst at REDD Intelligence said: “… a Salam appointment as it fits in well with the popular investment scenario that Lebanon is moving away from its previous dominance by Hezbollah, and by extension Iran.

“Salam would be better placed to raise external financial support.”

Yet, MPs who have squabbled over how to address the crisis are still in parliament and have the leverage to block decisions.

The new administration faces huge tasks including rebuilding areas levelled by Israeli airstrikes, and launching long-stalled reforms to revive the economy and address the root causes of the collapse of Lebanon’s financial system in 2019.

Aoun, previously commander of the US-backed Lebanese army, played a critical role in the implementation of a US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. He hoped for a smooth and fast government formation because “we have great opportunities abroad”, a reference to pledges of foreign support.

Salam is from a historically political family: his uncle Saeb Salam served as Lebanon’s prime minister in four times before the 1975-1990 civil war, and his older cousin Tammam Salam served in the post from 2014 to 2016.

Bloomberg, Reuters

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