Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun was elected president, ending a power vacuum that had lasted more than two years.
Aoun was elected president in the second round of voting on Thursday afternoon, receiving 99 votes from the 128-member parliament. The move comes weeks after a delicate ceasefire agreement halted 14 months of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The country is seeking aid for reconstruction.
“Today, a new phase in Lebanon’s history begins,” Aoun, 60, said in the chamber after being sworn into office.
Mr. Aoun’s victory was congratulated by parliamentarians when he reached the required number of votes, 86 votes, but this was because Michel Aoun, who is not related to Mr. Michel Aoun, whose term ends in October 2022, was This was the 13th attempt by Congress to find a successor for the former president.
“There is no doubt that Joseph Aoun’s election will usher in a new era for Lebanon,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodor said, reporting from Beirut. “Joseph Aoun is a really popular candidate in the international community, but…he really enjoys support here.”
The balance of power in Lebanon has shifted, she said, noting that Israel’s war against Lebanon had “weakened” Hezbollah.
“This country needs billions of dollars in recovery funding, but that money won’t come until Lebanon elects a president that the international community believes is reform-minded and not a corrupt political class. Deaf,” she said.
In his acceptance speech, Aoun focused on “building” the nation and military, sending the message that no one was “defeated.”
“There are deep political and sectarian divisions in this country. There can be no civil peace if one community feels marginalized. This country cannot function without consensus. ” Mr Hoddle said.
a daunting task
The Mediterranean country has been without a president since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October 2022, and tensions between Hezbollah and its opposition have led to more than a dozen previous votes being lost. It was ruined.
Sources said that in the first round of voting that day, members of the pro-Hezbollah bloc cast blank votes, so Aoun fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for an outright victory.
Representatives from the bloc met with Aoun in parliament during a recess before MPs returned to vote, the people said.
With 17 days left in a cease-fire that would send the Lebanese army alongside UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, international pressure for a successful outcome was mounting.
Mr. Aoun now faces the difficult task of appointing a prime minister who will oversee a ceasefire and lead reforms demanded by international creditors to alleviate the worst economic crisis in the country’s history.
“New page”
Aoun was widely seen as a priority pick not only by the United States but also by regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, who attended Thursday’s Lebanese parliament with other foreign envoys, said she was “very pleased” with Aoun’s selection.
According to Saudi state media, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated Aoun on his election.
The Iranian embassy in Beirut also welcomed Mr. Aoun’s selection and said in X that it looked forward to working with him and looked forward to “cooperating in various fields in the common interests of both countries.” Ta.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said the result opened a new page for Lebanon, saying that following Mr Aoun’s election, a strong force capable of implementing reforms for “Lebanon’s economic recovery, stability and security” He called for a new government to be appointed. sovereignty”.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis Plaschaert, welcomed the elections as a “long-awaited first step towards overcoming Lebanon’s political and institutional vacuum.”
“We must appoint a prime minister and form a government without delay,” she said.
Joseph Aoun is the fifth commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces and his fourth consecutive term as president.
