Lebanon names new government after two-year caretaker cabinet

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has announced the formation of a new government after more than two years of an interim cabinet amid political wrangling and a major economic collapse.

The presidency said on Saturday it accepted the resignation of the caretaker government and appointed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam‘s new cabinet of 24 ministers, the country’s first full-fledged government since 2022.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has announced the formation of a new government after more than two years of an interim cabinet amid political wrangling and a major economic collapse.

The presidency said on Saturday it accepted the resignation of the caretaker government and appointed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam‘s new cabinet of 24 ministers, the country’s first full-fledged government since 2022.Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace, he said Lebanon would implement UN resolution 1701, which ended a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 and calls for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other non-state armed actors from the area south of the Litani River, on the border with Israel.

Lebanon’s new government marks a shift away from leaders that are close to Hezbollah, as Beirut hopes to access reconstruction funds and investments after last year’s devastating war with Israel and to recover from a debilitating economic crisis that has gripped the country since 2019.

Though Hezbollah did not endorse Salam as prime minister, the Lebanese group did engage in negotiations with him over the Shia Muslim seats in government, as per Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.