Lebanon elects US-backed army chief as President after two-year vacancy
Joseph Aoun appears to send warning to Hezbollah, and says he will ‘rebuild what Israel destroyed’
Lebanon’s parliament has elected army chief Joseph Aoun as President – finally giving the country a head of state after more than two years.
Aoun, who had support from both the US and Saudi Arabia, received 99 of 128 votes after two rounds in a special parliamentary session.
“I am the first President of Lebanon’s second centenary, at a time of great upheaval in the Middle East,” he said at the swearing-in ceremony. “We are entering a new era for Lebanon.”
Aoun said “the authorities will have a monopoly on arms,” which has been interpreted as a message to Shia militant faction Hezbollah.
He also promised “to rebuild what the Israeli aggression destroyed all over Lebanon” in the destructive Israel-Hezbollah war.
Aoun is from Lebanon’s Maronite Christian community. The presidency is reserved for this community under the country’s complex sectarian power-sharing system.
The new president will be required to appoint a prime minister, who must form a government, which could be a complex process as no party holds a majority in parliament.
Hezbollah, which was the most powerful force in domestic politics but weakened by the war with Israel, supported the candidacy of former health minister, Suleiman Frangieh. But Frangieh withdrew before the vote and pledged his support to Aoun.
Prior to Thursday’s result, there had been 12 failed attempts to elect a president since the previous incumbent – Michel Aoun, no relation of Joseph – stepped down in October 2022.
Aoun, who is 61 on Friday, has led the Lebanese Army since 2017, having risen through the ranks after joining the military in 1983.
The Lebanese Army is tasked with replacing Hezbollah in southern Lebanon under the terms of a fragile truce with Israel, agreed in November after two months of fighting.
More than 4,000 Lebanese civilians and combatants were killed during the war, more than a million people were displaced, and the economic damage exceeded £7bn, according to the World Bank.
A source close to the Saudi regime told Reuters that French, Saudi, and US envoys had told parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri that financial assistance to support reconstruction in Lebanon would depend on Aoun’s election.
“There is a very clear message from the international community that they are ready to support Lebanon, but that needs a president, a government,” said Michel Mouawad, a Christian MP opposed to Hezbollah. “We did get a message from Saudi of support.”
The election of Aoun was received bitterly by Hezbollah supporters, who questioned the legitimacy of the process. “The United States of America elects a President in Lebanon,” posted one popular pro-Hezbollah account on X.
Israel and Iran both welcomed the outcome.
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, tweeted: “I congratulate Lebanon upon the election of a new President, following a lengthy political crisis. I hope that this choice will contribute towards stability, a better future for Lebanon and its people and to good neighborly relations.”
Iran’s embassy in Beirut said in a statement: “We congratulate brotherly Lebanon on the election of General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic…We wish His Excellency success in his mission, and we look forward to working together to strengthen relations between the Islamic Republics of Iran and Lebanon”
Michael Young, senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center based in Lebanese capital Beirut, said the election marks a “hopeful moment” after the two-year presidential vacancy.
“His speech was very much a warning to the political class,” he said. “(Aoun) seemed very uncompromising on a number of issues; corruption, drug trafficking – and one major point he made that everyone applauded – that it’s the state that should have arms.”
“This was clearly a warning in the direction of Hezbollah that a solution has to be found to the party’s weapons.”
“All these are very hopeful things. Obviously, the difficulty will be in implementation…But I think many people heard this speech with a great deal of happiness.”
Aoun’s election also marks the end of a 722-day sit-in in parliament by MP Melhem Khalaf, who said he would not leve the chamber until a new leader was installed.
