The Albany Gazette - Lebanon's new PM says reaching out to all sides to save country

He also promised to extend state authority across all of Lebanon, a challenge in a country where the Shiite militant group Hezbollah has long held sway in certain areas.

After two years of a caretaker administration, Salam faces the difficult task of forming a government to pull the Mediterranean country out of its worst-ever economic crisis and rebuild areas damaged by a recent war between Hezbollah and Israel.

After flying back from abroad to take on his post, he appeared to appeal to the Iran-backed group and its allies after they declined to back his nomination.

"My hands are extended to all to set off together on this mission of rescue, reform and rebuilding," he said in his first speech.

"I am not one of those who exclude, but those who unite," said the former presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

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

Hezbollah has long objected to any suggestion of Salam as premier, but the group has been weakened by its war with neighbouring Israel, which ended with a ceasefire in November.

Analysts say this allowed for Aoun's election last week after a two-year vacancy in the presidency, as well as Salam's swift nomination on Monday.

- 'Productive economy' -

Speaking just over a month after the end of the war in the country's south, a traditional stronghold of Hezbollah, Salam pledged to "extend the authority of the Lebanese state across all its territory".

He said he would "work seriously to completely implement UN Resolution 1701", which calls for Hezbollah to withdraw from southern Lebanon and which formed the basis for the ceasefire.

Referring to Israel, he declared his commitment to imposing "the complete withdrawal of the enemy from the last occupied inch of our land", another stipulation of the truce deal and Resolution 1701.

He said the ceasefire should be fully implemented to facilitate rebuilding conflict-ravaged areas in the south and east, as well as in Beirut.

"The most important challenge we face today is confronting the results of the last aggression" by Israel, he said.

In a country that has been grappling with financial ruin for the past five years, he vowed to work towards a government that could "build a modern and productive economy".

He also promised "justice for the victims of the Beirut port blast" in 2020, which killed more than 220 people, injured at least 6,500 and devastated swathes of the capital.

Protesters have demanded accountability for the explosion, but an investigation has stalled, mired in legal and political wrangling.

- 'New chapter' -

Salam became prime minister after a short tenure as ICJ president that began in February last year.

He was also Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 to 2017.

Salam's supporters include those who see him as the right man to move away from the crony politics that have ruled the country since the 1975-1991 civil war.

As the country's economy collapsed in late 2019, mass protests erupted against the ruling class, which demonstrators accused of corruption, but they petered out as the Covid pandemic hit.

Consultations between Salam and political parties ahead of the appointment of new ministers were to start on Wednesday and run for two days, the parliament said in a statement.

In multi-confessional Lebanon, drawing up a list of ministers approved by all sides can take weeks or even months due to deep political divisions and horse-trading.

Aoun's election on Thursday came amid international pressure, especially from the United States and Saudi Arabia, to finally choose a head of state and pull the country out of crisis.

Salam called for a "new chapter" in Lebanon without foreign interference.

"We have all bet on outside (powers), but it has taught us that the only thing worth betting on is our unity and cooperation with each other," he said.

(R.White--TAG)