BEIRUT: Nawaf Salam, Lebanon’s new prime minister, is a leading international judge who won support for staying out of the political infighting that has paralysed the crisis-hit country in recent years.
The 71-year-old, who until now was presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, hails from a prominent Beirut political family.
He had previously been put forward to form a cabinet in the deeply divided Mediterranean country, but Iran-backed Hezbollah had repeatedly objected, with opponents of the group hoping Salam would be able to reform state institutions long under its grip.
Hezbollah has since been badly weakened by its recent war with Israel and the loss of a key ally in Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, enabling new Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday to task Salam with forming a government.
The group and its ally Amal again objected to Salam, but for the first time, other political parties previously allied to the Shiite movement have endorsed him.
“Nawaf Salam is widely respected for his academic rigor, independent views, and commitment to justice and human rights,” said Lebanese analyst Imed Salamey.
“His ability to maintain equal distance from Lebanon’s divided parties, while embodying principles of justice and governance, makes him a symbol of hope for a more accountable and inclusive future.”
As the country’s economy was collapsing in 2019, mass protests erupted demanding an overhaul of a ruling class accused of corruption and largely unchanged since the 1975-1991 civil war.
But they petered out as the Covid pandemic hit, before a massive explosion at the Beirut port ravaged the capital in 2020.
‘REFORMIST’
Born in Beirut in 1953, Salam studied law and political science, including at Harvard in the United States and Sciences Po in France.
He was made Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations in 2007, when anti-Hezbollah politician Fuad Siniora was prime minister, and stayed in the post for a decade.
Politicians opposed to Hezbollah would go on to suggest several times that Salam head a new government.
