What Is the ‘Shiite Duo’s’ Problem with Salam’s Appointment as Lebanon’s PM?

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam waves as he arrives to meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam waves as he arrives to meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
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What Is the ‘Shiite Duo’s’ Problem with Salam’s Appointment as Lebanon’s PM?

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam waves as he arrives to meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam waves as he arrives to meet with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Several observers have questioned the strong opposition by the “Shiite duo” of Hezbollah and the Amal movement of the appointment of Nawaf Salam as Lebanon’s prime minister.

Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad went so far on Monday to declare that the party had been “deceived with the aim of creating division and exclusion” in the country.

Salam was named prime minister on Monday after earning 84 votes from parliamentary blocs. His predecessor Najib Mikati received nine, while the Shiite duo abstained from naming anyone.

Back in 2023, the duo had agreed to a so-called “French initiative” that suggested the election of Hezbollah and Amal’s candidate Suleiman Franjieh as president in exchange for Salam to be named prime minister.

Salam, who in February 2024 was named head of the International Court of Justice, boasts a long history of opposing Israel, which should have earned him Hezbollah’s strong support. He resigned from the post after being designated prime minister.

Figures close to the duo said that one of the issues Hezbollah has with Salam is that since the October 2019 anti-government protests in Lebanon, he has been viewed as the opposition and West’s candidate for the position of prime minister.

Political anlayst Dr. Kassem Kassir told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hezbollah and Amal don’t view Salam as a rival as they had agreed to his nomination in line with the French initiative.

The problem, however, lies in how he was nominated. He explained that internal and foreign forces had reached an agreement that would see Joseph Aoun elected president and Mikati named prime minister, he said.

However, it appears that some sort of internal and foreign “coup” had taken place and that led to Salam’s nomination and appointment, he remarked.

On whether the dispute can be resolved, Kassir said “positive stances” during the government formation process may tackle the issue.

“The Shiite duo fear that there may be an agenda aimed at excluding its influential role in political life,” he added.

A handout photo made available by the Lebanese Presidency Press Office shows Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (L) speaking with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, 14 January 2025. (Lebanese Presidency Press Office)

Hezbollah had warned on Monday that Salam’s government may be “unconstitutional” should it fail to meet its demands and aspirations.

Raad said: “We have the right to demand the formation of a constitutional government. A government that violates joint coexistence is not legal.”

Constitutional expert Dr. Saeed Malek said “constitutionality” is one of the foundations of Lebanon’s political system.

The constitution clearly states that there can be no legitimacy to an authority that violates mutual coexistence, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

However, the issue of “constitutionality” must not be brought up when a certain party wants to deliver a political message and prevent the remaining parties from building a state and practicing their rights, he stressed.

“Yes, the Shiite duo does represent Shiites in Lebanon, but they don’t represent all Lebanese Shiites. The community boasts figures who enrich the Shiite sect, so a government can be formed with them,” Kassir said.

“A government would be unconstitutional if not a single Shiite figure is represented in it,” he underlined.

On whether the government needs the vote of confidence of the Shiite MPs, he said the constitution does not stipulate that a cabinet needs the vote of all segments. “It simply says that it needs the vote of confidence,” he added.

“At the end of the day, the issue of ‘constitutionality’ is a right, but one must not exploit this right with the aim to obstruct state functioning and the formation of a government,” Malek stressed.

“No party has the right to obstruct a new presidential term under the pretext of ‘constitutionality’,” he stated.



Who Is Nawaf Salam, Lebanon’s New Prime Minister-Designate?

Nawaf Salam, Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to the media after Security Council consultations on the Palestinian request for full UN membership during the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on September 26, 2011. (AFP)
Nawaf Salam, Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to the media after Security Council consultations on the Palestinian request for full UN membership during the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on September 26, 2011. (AFP)
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Who Is Nawaf Salam, Lebanon’s New Prime Minister-Designate?

Nawaf Salam, Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to the media after Security Council consultations on the Palestinian request for full UN membership during the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on September 26, 2011. (AFP)
Nawaf Salam, Lebanon's Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to the media after Security Council consultations on the Palestinian request for full UN membership during the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on September 26, 2011. (AFP)

President Joseph Aoun summoned jurist Nawaf Salam on Monday to designate him as Lebanon's prime minister, after a majority of Lebanese lawmakers nominated him for the post.

Salam, 71, is an attorney and judge who served as Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations from 2007-17.

He won support from 84 of Lebanon's 128 parliamentarians, among them leading Christian and Druze factions and prominent Sunni Muslim lawmakers, including Hezbollah allies.

But Hezbollah and its ally the Shiite Amal Movement, which hold all the seats reserved for Shiite Muslims in parliament, named nobody. Hezbollah accused its opponents of seeking to exclude the group.

Salam joined International Court of Justice in 2018 and was named as its president on Feb. 6, 2024 for a three-year term, the first Lebanese judge to the hold the position.

He took over the presidency of the ICJ, which is based in The Hague, as it held its first hearing on a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has dismissed as baseless.

Salam is from a historically political family: his uncle Saeb Salam served as premier in Lebanon four times before the 1975-1990 civil war, and his older cousin Tammam Salam served as Lebanon's prime minister from 2014-2016.