Salam appointed Lebanon’s new Prime Minister

International desk:

Nawaf Salam, the president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, has been appointed as Lebanon’s new Prime Minister. 

Salam, 71, secured the backing of two-thirds of Lebanon’s 128-member parliament during consultations with newly elected President Joseph Aoun. His appointment follows a sectarian power-sharing tradition that reserves the prime minister’s position for a Sunni Muslim. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati received just nine votes in the process.

The presidency announced that Salam would return to Lebanon on Tuesday to assume his new role.