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Lebanon\u2019s fractured Parliament named Nawaf Salam as prime minister on Monday, handing the country\u2019s political reins to the prominent diplomat and international jurist as Lebanon emerges from a devastating war and attempts to recover from a dire economic meltdown.<\/p>\n
Mr. Salam was endorsed by a majority of lawmakers in the country\u2019s 128-seat Parliament on Monday, after which Lebanon\u2019s newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, asked him to form a government. Mr. Salam is currently serving as the head of the International Court of Justice, the United Nations\u2019 top court, and previously served as Lebanon\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
The selection of Mr. Salam was widely seen as a major political blow to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party that has served as the real power in Lebanon for decades. For much of that time, almost no major political decision could be made without Hezbollah\u2019s backing.<\/p>\n
But the vote on Monday offered a rebuke to that status quo, elevating Mr. Salam \u2014 whom Hezbollah opposed \u2014 and delivering a stunning defeat to the Hezbollah-backed candidate. For many, it underscored Lebanon\u2019s new political reality: Since emerging from a 14-month war with Israel, Hezbollah no longer has an iron, unshakable grip on Lebanon\u2019s state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In just over two months, Israel assassinated the group\u2019s top leaders<\/a>. The war left billions of dollars in damages across the country. Hezbollah also lost its main ally in neighboring Syria, the dictator Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled by rebels<\/a> last month. And its patron, Iran, is now on its back foot<\/a> after its web of anti-Israel militias has unraveled. Those developments have opened a new political chapter in Lebanon, analysts say.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole political dynamic has changed,\u201d said Sami Nader, the director of the Political Sciences Institute at Saint Joseph University of Beirut. \u201cIt\u2019s a total collapse of the old modus operandi.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lebanese state is made up of a multitude of factions and sects that jockey for power and influence. For years, it has been controlled by a weak and ineffectual caretaker government. Hezbollah was both a part of that government and the dominant political and military force, effectively guiding almost all of the country\u2019s major decisions.<\/p>\n In recent days, Lebanon\u2019s shifting political sands have been laid bare in a flurry of political developments that have underscored just how much political ground Hezbollah has lost<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Last week, Lebanon\u2019s Parliament elected Mr. Aoun as the country\u2019s new president \u2014 overcoming more than two years of political gridlock that critics had attributed to Hezbollah. Then on Monday, Mr. Salam \u2014 whom Hezbollah had repeatedly blocked from becoming prime minister in recent years \u2014 gained the support of 85 members of the country\u2019s 128-seat Parliament. The departing prime minister whom Hezbollah supported, Najib Mikati, secured only nine votes. Thirty-five ballots were cast blank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After the vote, a senior Hezbollah lawmaker, Mohammad Raad, told reporters at a news conference that Hezbollah had \u201cextended its hand\u201d by supporting the election of Mr. Aoun, only to have its \u201chand cut\u201d on Monday, according to local media reports.<\/p>\n The new government that is emerging in Lebanon also reflects the realignment of power dynamics across the Middle East, analysts say. The era of Iran\u2019s sway over Lebanon appears to be over, they say, creating an opening for Gulf countries<\/a> that had vied with Iran unsuccessfully in Lebanon for years.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia and Western countries have thrown their support behind Mr. Salam and Mr. Aoun, and many within Lebanon hope that the new government they lead will bring an influx of funds from those countries as Lebanon grapples with a billions-dollar bill for reconstruction from the war between Hezbollah and Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Arab countries are on board, there\u2019s a possibility of Lebanon being welcomed back to the Arab family,\u201d Mr. Nader said. \u201cIt\u2019s an unbelievable change. You can feel the weakening of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n