Nawaf Salam, the president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, has been named as Lebanon’s new prime minister.
Two thirds of the 128 members of parliament nominated the 71-year-old judge for the post, reserved for a Sunni Muslim under a sectarian power sharing system.
The presidency said Salam would return to Lebanon on Tuesday.
His appointment is another blow to Hezbollah, which had sought to reappoint Mikati but ended up nominating no candidate. The Iran-backed Shia Muslim militia and political party has been significantly weakened by its recent war with Israel.
Senior Hezbollah lawmaker, Mohammed Raad accused its opponents of working for fragmentation and exclusion. He complained that his group had “extended its hand” by supporting Aoun’s election only to find the “hand cut”, and warned that “any government at odds with coexistence has no legitimacy whatsoever”.
However, Christian and Sunni allies of Hezbollah did back Salam.
Gebran Bassil, the leader of Lebanon’s biggest Maronite Christian bloc, called him the “face of reform”.
Sunni lawmaker, Faisal Karami meanwhile said he had nominated the ICJ chief due to the demands for “change and renewal” as well as promises of international support for Lebanon.
Read also: World Boxing champion Tyson Fury announces retirement
Salam is a member of a prominent Sunni family from Beirut. His uncle, Salam, helped Lebanon gain independence from France in 1943 and served several terms as prime minister. His cousin, Tammam, was also prime minister from 2014 to 2016.
He holds a doctorate in political science from Sciences Po University in France, a doctorate in history from the Sorbonne and a master of law degree from Harvard Law School.
Salam worked as a lawyer and a lecturer at several universities before serving as Lebanon’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York from 2007 to 2017.
He became a member of the ICJ in 2018, and was elected president for a three-year term last February. He took over as the ICJ heard a case brought by South Africa that accused Israeli forces of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel dismissed the allegation as baseless. (BBC)
