After handily winning parliament's vote of confidence Dec. 28 with 87 out of 92 votes, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his new unity government will now tackle their top priorities, which include protecting Lebanon from fallout from the Syrian civil war. 

Other leading items on the agenda include approving a 2017 budget, stimulating the economy, and taking immediate action to address electricity and water problems as well as difficulties with traffic and solid waste treatment. Priorities also include developing a strategy to prevent corruption, fighting terrorism and speeding up license approvals for oil exploration and extraction.

Hariri managed Dec. 18 to form the first government in two years, under President Michel Aoun, despite differences that erupted between the major blocs over the number of ministers and their responsibilities.

Hariri’s national consensus government has a total of 30 ministers representing the country’s major parliamentary blocs and parties, with the exception of the Christian Phalanges Party, which rejected the state ministry position it was offered. The government includes seven state ministers, and six new state ministries have been established, for women's affairs, anti-corruption, presidential affairs, displaced citizens, human rights, and planning. The Planning Ministry had been abolished in 1977 and replaced with the Council of Development and Reconstruction.