Lebanon’s fractured parliament named Nawaf Salam as prime minister on Monday, handing the political reins to a prominent diplomat and international lawyer as Lebanon emerges from a devastating war and tries to recover from a dire economic situation.
Mr. Salam was approved by a majority of the country’s 128-seat parliament on Monday, after which Lebanon’s newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, asked him to form a government. Mr. Salam currently serves as the head of the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, and previously served as Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The election of Mr. Salam was widely seen as a major political blow to Hezbollah, the Lebanese military and political party that has served as Lebanon’s real power for decades. For most of that time, almost no major political decision could be made without Hezbollah’s support.
But Monday’s vote provided a rebuke to that situation, suggesting Mr. Salam – the one that Hezbollah is against – and it presents a stunning defeat to the one chosen by Hezbollah. For many, it underscored Lebanon’s new political reality: Since emerging from a 14-month war with Israel, Hezbollah no longer has an iron, unshakable grip on the Lebanese state.
In just over two months, Israel killed the group’s top leaders. The war left billions of dollars in damage across the country. Hezbollah also lost its main ally in neighboring Syria, dictator Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown by rebels last month. And its sponsor, Iran, is now on its feet after the emergence of its web of anti-Israel militias. Those events opened a new political chapter in Lebanon, say analysts.
“All political influence has changed,” said Sami Nader, director of the Political Sciences Institute at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. “A complete collapse of the old modus operandi.”
The country of Lebanon is made up of a number of factions and sects vying for power and influence. For years it has been ruled by a weak and ineffective caretaker government. Hezbollah was part of that government and the dominant political and military force, effectively directing almost all of the country’s major decisions.
In recent days, the shifting political sands in Lebanon have been exposed by political events that have underscored how much political ground Hezbollah has lost.
Last week, the Parliament of Lebanon appointed Mr. Aoun as the country’s new president – ending more than two years of political strife that critics say was created by Hezbollah. On Monday, Mr. Salam – who Hezbollah had repeatedly blocked from becoming prime minister in previous years – won the support of 85 members of the country’s 128-seat Parliament. The outgoing Hezbollah-backed prime minister, Najib Mikati, received only nine votes. Thirty-five votes were blank.
After the vote, Hezbollah’s top lawyer, Mohammad Raad, told reporters at a press conference that Hezbollah had “reached out” by supporting Mr. reports.
The new government emerging in Lebanon also signals a realignment of dynamic power in the Middle East, analysts say. The time of Iran’s rise over Lebanon seems to be over, they say it is opening an opportunity for the Gulf countries that have been competing with Iran for years without success in Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia and the West have thrown their support behind Mr. Salam and Mr. Aoun, and many inside Lebanon are hoping that the new government they lead will bring an influx of funds from those countries as Lebanon faces billions of dollars in reconstruction costs. war between Hezbollah and Israel.
“The Arab countries are there, it is possible that Lebanon will be accepted into the Arab family,” said Mr. Nader. “It’s an unbelievable change. You can feel the weakness of Iran. “
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