Ninety-five lawmakers voted in favour and 12 against, with four abstaining after a debate on the plans of Nawaf Salam’s government [Getty]
Lebanon’s parliament passed a vote of confidence Wednesday in the new government led by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who has the difficult task of shepherding through economic reforms and rebuilding the country after the recent Israel-Hezbollah war.
Salam was selected in mid-January to form a government after legislators elected Joseph Aoun as president.
Aoun, the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, entered office after Hezbollah was badly weakened by both its war with Israel and the overthrow of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, upending Lebanon’s balance of power.
Backed by Assad and Tehran, Hezbollah had exerted a powerful grip on Lebanese politics while also being a major military force within the country.
It was widely blamed for the more than two years that Lebanon spent under a caretaker government before Aoun’s appointment.
The group did not support Salam’s appointment, but on Wednesday voted in favour of the new government.
Israel destroyed a large part of Hezbollah’s once-formidable arsenal and killed its top leadership, including long-time chief Hassan Nasrallah, who died in a massive air strike in Beirut in September.
After two days of debate on a ministerial declaration by Salam setting out his government’s plans, 95 lawmakers voted in favour and 12 against, with four abstaining.
The new government is confronted by the daunting challenge of rebuilding an economy in the grips of a historic crisis and the devastation wrought by the Hezbollah-Israel war.
It must also help enforce a ceasefire in which Hezbollah is required to remove its military infrastructure from southern Lebanon, while Israeli forces withdraw from the country.
Israel has largely completed its withdrawal but said it will remain indefinitely at five strategic locations within Lebanon close to the border.
In its ministerial declaration, the government said there was a need to implement a state monopoly on “the bearing of weapons” and “deciding on war and peace”.
The statement also pledged to adopt a “foreign policy that works to make Lebanon neutral from axis conflicts”.
Hezbollah has been a key player in Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” against Israel and the United States.
Salam must also take on rampant corruption and the need for economic reform if Lebanon is to unlock international financial support.
The premier said on Wednesday that the government would put in place “a comprehensive plan for economic and financial recovery” and “will begin new negotiations with the International Monetary Fund”.
