Beirut, Jan 15: Lebanon’s newly-appointed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed on Tuesday to start a new chapter in the country, local TV channel Al Jadeed reported.“The time has come to start a new chapter rooted in justice, security, progress, and opportunities so that Lebanon becomes a country of freedom and equal citizenship,” Salam said in his first remarks as Prime Minister at Baabda Palace in capital Beirut.
The Prime Minister-designate highlighted the dire need for reconstruction efforts after the nearly 14-month deadly conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which devastated civilian homes and infrastructures.
“A large part of our people still have their homes and institutions destroyed, and we must rebuild the villages in the Bekaa region, the south, and the capital Beirut. Reconstruction is a commitment,” he said.
Salam also pledged to implement the UN Resolution 1701. “We must work hard to fully implement Resolution 1701 and force the enemy’s complete withdrawal from the last inch of our lands,” he said.
He called for extending the authority of the state to all territories and urged the government to implement a comprehensive plan to build a productive economy and create job opportunities for future generations, Xinhua news agency reported.
Advocating for the adoption of expanded administrative decentralization, Salam stressed the importance of reforming Lebanon’s patronage-based administration. In the meantime, he called for achieving justice for the victims of the 2020 Beirut port blasts.
“I am not for exclusion but for unity, not for marginalization but for integration,” Salam declared, calling on all parties to jointly initiate reforms.
Salam was named a day earlier as Lebanon’s new Prime Minister and tasked with forming a new government.