Lebanon's new Prime Minister says reaching out to all sides to save country

Lebanon's new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Tuesday said he was reaching out to all across the political spectrum to help "rescue, reform and rebuild" his crisis-hit country.

"My hands are extended to all to set off together on this mission of rescue, reform and rebuilding," he said in his first speech as premier, after Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and its allies did not back his nomination.

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

President Joseph Aoun tasked Salam with forming a government on Monday, after a majority of other members of parliament gave him their endorsement.

Hezbollah had objected to any suggestion of Salam as premier in the past, but the militant group has been weakened by a war with neighbouring Israel that ended with a ceasefire in November.

Analysts say this allowed for Aoun's election last week and Nawaf's swift nomination on Monday.

Speaking after flying back to Lebanon to take on the post, Nawaf also pledged to ensure state authority over all Lebanese soil after the November 27 truce between Hezbollah and Israel.

He said he would "extend the authority of the Lebanese state across all its territory" and "work seriously to completely implement UN resolution 1701" that calls for Hezbollah to withdraw from south 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 vowed to work towards a government that could "build a modern and productive economy".

Before becoming premier, Salam was presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

In multi-confessional 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.

AFP