Lebanon's parliament on Thursday elected army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun as president, filling the vacancy that had been vacant since President Michel Aoun (no relation) ended his term in October 2022.
Aoun, who turns 61 on Friday, is an experienced military commander but a political novice. he popular both in Lebanon and the international community, especially the United States and Saudi Arabia. He is a Maronite Christian, as required by Lebanese law. tripartite systemThe position of president is reserved for a Christian, the position of prime minister is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, and the position of speaker of the parliament is reserved for a Shiite Muslim.
Aoun is widely credited with keeping the Lebanese army out of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group and one of Lebanon's most powerful political factions. He was instrumental in implementing a 60-day ceasefire. mediated The United States and France reached an agreement in November and helped keep the agreement in place for some time. rough spots since then.
Aoun is enlisted He has served in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) since 1983 and was appointed army commander in 2017. His military training included infantry officer and counterterrorism courses in the United States. he has ever decorated He was awarded more than 15 medals for his work, including the National Unity Medal, two Wounded Medals (Lebanon's medal for soldiers injured in the line of duty), and three War Medals.
One of his most impressive accomplishments as commander-in-chief was steering the military through the financial collapse of 2021, which left many soldiers without pay and some without food. Ta. His military and the general public appreciated his candor in confronting Lebanon's political system, which had failed to manage the country's economy.
One of his first successes as LAF commander was take the lead Counter-terrorism operations against Islamic State cells along the Lebanese-Syrian border. This operation, known as Fajr al-Joroud, led to him hero In the eyes of many Lebanese.
The public also praises the progress Aoun has made against corruption within the military. after a catastrophic event explosion In the 2020 Beirut port incident, foreign governments were so nervous about entrusting aid funds to the Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese government that they poured money into trusted General Aoun and his military.
“Within the Lebanese Army, he is recognized as a dedicated person… someone who has the national interest at heart and who seeks to strengthen this institution, which is the last remaining non-sectarian institution in the country. Karim Bitar, an international relations expert at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. said Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Thursday.
Aung said On Thursday, he said being elected president was the “greatest award” he had received.
“We must change Lebanon's political performance. My mission begins today to serve all Lebanese wherever they are as the country's first servants, to uphold national agreements and to I pledge to exercise the full power of the president as an impartial arbiter.”
Aoun said legal and judicial reform will be one of his top priorities.
“If we want to build a nation, we must all be under the rule of law and justice. Interference with the judiciary is prohibited and there will be no impunity for criminals and corrupt people. There is no place for the mafia, drug trafficking or money laundering in Lebanon.”
Aoun was elected president in the second round of voting on Thursday, receiving 99 votes from the 128-seat parliament. He needed 86 votes to win, but received only 71 in the first round.
Aoun's last remaining rival is Suleiman Franguieh, who heads a small Christian party in northern Lebanon but is backed by Hezbollah. Frangier withdrew Au's election ends a two-year political deadlock that saw 12 failed attempts to elect a president.
No other candidates received any votes in the second round, but 37 members submitted blank votes, and 14 of them effectively abstained by voting in favor of “sovereignty and the constitution.'' Observers described the election as a vicious one, with mass shouting and last-minute deals.
Mohamed Raad, leader of the Hezbollah caucus, said: proposed The party withheld its vote in the first round but supported Aoun in the second, saying Hezbollah remains influential and important after being annihilated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) over the past few months. It was to send a message.
“We postponed the vote because we wanted to send a message that we are the guardians of the national consensus, just as we are the guardians of Lebanon's sovereignty,” Raad declared.
President Aoun appears unimpressed by the demonstrations, as his acceptance speech included a pledge to give the LAF a “monopoly in the bearing of arms.” This would implicitly disarm Hezbollah, which probably has a larger arsenal than the LAF even after fighting the Israelis.
Aoun is the fifth army commander since his predecessor, Michel Aoun, and the fourth to serve as army commander, although Lebanese constitution requires military commanders and other high-ranking civil servants to be appointed after their resignation. Despite the fact that he is prohibited from becoming president for more than two years. This ban is often waived because military commanders appear to be the president's only viable option.
In the case of Joseph Aoun, parliament decided that he would need to win two-thirds of the votes in the second round to take office, rather than the usual simple majority required. He was also required to retire from military roles and wore civilian clothes when taking the oath of office in Congress.
