Lebanese government, president see major spike in public approval

A Gallup poll found that the Lebanese government, led by Nawaf Salam, and President Joseph Aoun received a massive spike in public approval, making their leadership the most popular and supported in the last 20 years.

Compared to last year when there were no president and the government, which was in a caretaker status and led by Najib Mikati, public support for Lebanon’s leadership rose from 16 percent to 62 percent.

Lebanon’s leadership sees historic surge in public support

This also not only marked one of the biggest approval spikes in Lebanese history but in the world with only Panama (twice), Egypt and Armenia topping it. 

Disapproval ratings also dropped drastically from over 70 percent to 35 percent.

Individually, Aoun has an approval rating of 81 percent, a rating that Gallup noted was the highest it has ever seen for a Lebanese leader.

While lower, Salam also enjoys a majority positive approval rating of 56 percent versus 36 percent disapproval.

Confidence in government rises amid persistent economic and corruption concerns

The national survey was conducted several months after the November 27, 2024, ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel and excluded around 10 percent of the population, including several inaccessible areas under Hezbollah’s control in the Bekaa, south and southern suburbs of Beirut.

This spike in approval was a departure from the 2019 to 2024 period, a time marked by economic crises, the 2020 port explosion and war with Israel, in which the government’s unfavorable were at some of the lowest they had ever been with 70 to 81 percent of Lebanese viewing the political leadership in a negative light.

Nearly half of Lebanese have a positive view of the Lebanese government at 48 percent, a number which had not risen above 12 percent since 2020.

While confidence has risen for much of Lebanon’s institutions, only 4 percent have any faith in the country’s financial institutions since the economic collapse that locked depositors out of their savings and saw the value of the national currency devalued by over 98 percent.

Views on corruption have also started to see a decline, though they remain high. When asked if they believed there was widespread corruption in the government, 82 percent of respondents agreed, a decrease from 92 percent the year prior.