Caretaker ministers Bassam Mawlawi (top left), Abbas Mortada (bottom left), Walid Fayyad (center), Ali Hamieh (top right), and Youssef Khalil (bottom right). (Illustration by Jaimee Haddad/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Since the nearly two-and-a-half-year presidential vacancy was resolved on Jan. 9, a domino effect has suddenly propelled Lebanese politics forward. Army chief Joseph Aoun becoming president allowed for non-binding consultations that resulted in International Court judge Nawaf Salam being appointed prime minister, and on Saturday, after three weeks of further non-binding consultations, Lebanon was presented with its new Cabinet.With 24 ministers — including five women, up from the one woman in the former Cabinet — Salam's government succeeds outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati's 2021 team, which has been acting under caretaker status since 2022.Nonetheless, Mikati's Cabinet, endorsed by former president Michel Aoun as he left office in October 2022, has accompanied the people of Lebanon through a devastating period,...
BEIRUT — Since the nearly two-and-a-half-year presidential vacancy was resolved on Jan. 9, a domino effect has suddenly propelled Lebanese politics forward. Army chief Joseph Aoun becoming president allowed for non-binding consultations that resulted in International Court judge Nawaf Salam being appointed prime minister, and on Saturday, after three weeks of further non-binding consultations, Lebanon was presented with its new Cabinet.With 24 ministers — including five women, up from the one woman in the former Cabinet — Salam's government succeeds outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati's 2021 team, which has been acting under caretaker status since 2022.Nonetheless, Mikati's Cabinet, endorsed by former president Michel Aoun as he left office in October 2022, has accompanied the people of Lebanon through a devastating...