Lebanon parliament elects army chief Joseph Aoun as president

DEVELOPING STORY,

The appointment breaks a deadlock that has left the country without a head of state since October 2022.

Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun has been elected as the country’s president after a second round of parliamentary voting, breaking a deadlock that has left the country without a head of state since October 2022.

Aoun secured 99 votes from the 128-seat parliament to win the presidency in a second round of voting on Thursday afternoon, which came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted 14 months of fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as the country seeks aid for reconstruction.

“A new phase in the history of Lebanon begins today,” 61-year-old Aoun told the chamber, as he arrived to take oath in Parliament.

Aoun’s victory, which saw members of parliament erupting in celebration as he reached the required threshold of 86 votes, marked the legislature’s 13th attempt to find a successor for Michel Aoun – not related – whose term ended in October 2022.

“There is no doubt the election of Joseph Aoun is a new era in Lebanon,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut. “Joseph Aoun really is a favourite candidate of the international community, but … he really does enjoy support here.”

The balance of power in Lebanon had shifted, she said, noting that Israel’s war on Lebanon had “weakened” Hezbollah.

“At the end of the day, this country needs billions of dollars of reconstruction money and that money won’t come in until Lebanon elects a president that the international community believes is reform minded, outside what they believe is a corrupt political class,” she said.

In his acceptance speech, Aoun had focused on “building” the nation and its army while sending the message that nobody had been “defeated”.

“This is a country where there are deep … political and sectarian divisions. If one community feels that they have been left out, then there cannot be civil peace. This country does not function if there is no consensus,” said Khodr.

Daunting remit

The Mediterranean country has been without a president since the term of Michel Aoun ended in October 2022, with tensions between Hezbollah its opponents scuppering a dozen previous votes.

In the first round of voting earlier in the day, lawmakers from the pro-Hezbollah bloc had voted blank, a source close to them said, leaving Aoun short of the required two-thirds majority to win outright.

The source said representatives from the bloc met Aoun at the parliament during a break before lawmakers returned for a second vote.

International pressure had mounted for a successful outcome with just 17 days remaining in a ceasefire to deploy Lebanese troops alongside UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon after a Hezbollah-Israel war last autumn.

Aoun now faces the daunting tasks of overseeing a ceasefire on the Israeli border and naming a prime minister to lead reforms demanded by international creditors to save the country from the worst economic crisis of its history.

The president’s powers have been reduced since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

But filling the position is key to overseeing consultations towards naming a new prime minister to lead a government capable of carrying out reforms demanded by international creditors.

Aoun was widely seen as the preferred pick of army backer the United States, as well as regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.

He is Lebanon’s fifth army commander to become president, and the fourth in a row.

Source