Saeb Salam announces candidacy in Beirut elections

BEIRUT — Saeb Salam, heir to a prominent Beirut political family and son of former Prime Minister Tammam Salam — himself the son of ex-premier Saeb Salam — announced on Wednesday that he will run in the May parliamentary elections in Beirut II district.

This announcement comes at a time marked by the fading of traditional Sunni figures, following the withdrawal of Future Movement leader Saad Hariri from the political scene.

“I come from the Salam household, a family that has never treated politics as a business nor power as a means to get rich. From my great-grandfather Selim Salam to my grandfather Saeb Salam, then to my father Tammam Salam, we learned that our word is a position, that responsibility is an honor, and that public service is a commitment,” he said during a press conference at his Msaytbeh residence.

“I don’t live off names. I am not just an inheritance. I am not only a story: I am a position and a project for the future,” he added.

A cousin of current Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, the candidate said he is running in order to “work on drafting laws that protect citizens’ labor, hold thieves accountable, and end wasteful circuits.” “It is through the law that we will rebuild the state. I am running to act and deliver results: this is both a slogan and a commitment,” he declared.

According to him, his candidacy aims in particular to make Beirut “a clean city,” to strengthen its local economy, and to create opportunities for its youth so that they are not forced into exile. “It is through action that we will restore trust,” he insisted.

Salam also argued that “the problem is not just with the laws, but also with the way the country is governed.” “The institutions are not dead: they are paralyzed by clientelism and mismanagement. No administration can function when every position is given to a faction, every decision fragmented, and every function locked down,” he decried.

He also emphasized that “transparency is not a slogan, but a mode of governance,” advocating for “every decision to be known, every expense clearly identified, and every official held accountable.” “We want a state based on competence, not on favoritism; on order, not on quotas; on clarity, not on arrangements. And this must apply to everyone,” he stressed.

The candidate specified that his alliances would be “with those who want a strong Beirut that is not held hostage, a state and not a farm,” and who put “the interests of Beirut and Lebanon above any political or personal calculation.”