Lebanon has formed its first full government since 2022, ending a prolonged political stalemate and giving new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam a cabinet to work with as the country tries to steady itself after years of economic collapse and war.
President Joseph Aoun announced on February 8, 2025 that he had accepted the resignation of the caretaker government and signed a decree with Salam to form a new administration. The new cabinet has 24 ministers, split evenly between Christian and Muslim sects under Lebanon’s power-sharing system.
The formation of the government came less than a month after Salam was appointed. He is a former president of the International Court of Justice and has built his political message around restoring trust in the state, carrying out reforms and improving relations with the Arab world and the international community.
In remarks cited by AP, Salam said reform was the only path to salvation. He also pledged to follow up on the implementation of the ceasefire agreement that ended the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah in late November, and to ensure Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanese territory. He said reconstruction in areas damaged during the war would be a priority.
The new cabinet arrives at a difficult moment. Lebanon is still dealing with the effects of a crippling economic crisis now in its sixth year, a collapse that has battered the banking sector, weakened public services and left many people unable to access their savings. The country is also still grappling with the physical destruction left by the fighting in the south.
The government’s formation may help unlock some political momentum, but it does not resolve the security pressures Lebanon faces. AP’s report notes that clashes were already taking place on the eastern border with Syria, where Lebanese authorities said the army had been ordered to respond to fire from Syrian territory. On the same day, Lebanese state media reported a deadly Israeli drone strike near the eastern border.
Salam’s rise also marks a shift in the country’s political balance. The AP report says the new authorities represent a move away from figures aligned closely with Hezbollah, with Beirut hoping to improve ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that have long been wary of Hezbollah’s influence.
That shift matters because Lebanon has spent years trapped between internal deadlock, regional rivalries and the challenge of rebuilding trust in institutions. Salam has said he intends to reform the judiciary and the economy and to restore stability in a country that has repeatedly been pushed to the edge.
The cabinet’s formation is therefore both a symbolic and practical step. Symbolically, it ends a prolonged vacuum in full government. Practically, it gives Lebanon a team that can begin to tackle reconstruction, reform and foreign relations at a time when the country has very little room for delay.
Whether that team can govern effectively will depend on more than appointments. Lebanon’s new government now has to show it can act in a state where economic breakdown, border tensions and factional politics have repeatedly undermined long-term planning.
