Lebanon’s parliament has elected the US-backed army chief to be the country’s new president, ending a years-long political stalemate and presidential vacuum.
Army chief Joseph Aoun was voted president after two rounds of voting. This came after a robust efforts by Saudi Arabia and the United States to rally support for Aoun, who is close to Washington and Riyadh.
After he was declared president, Aoun effectively stepped from his military role. He arrived in parliament to be sworn in as president dressed in civilian clothing.
Lebanon has been without a president since the end of the tenure of former President Michel Aoun – who is not related to Joseph Aoun – in October 2022. The former president was backed by Iran-supported Hezbollah. Negotiations over his successor were unsuccessful, reinvigorating tensions between the country’s pro-Western and pro-Iranian camps.
Prior to Thursday’s parliamentary sessions, there were 12 failed attempts to elect a president over the last two years.
A US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a war between Hezbollah and Israel last November appears to have also expedited the long-awaited presidential election. Hezbollah was dealt heavy blows by Israel’s assault, which was shortly followed by the downfall of Iran-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who had opened his territory to the passage of Hezbollah’s weapons from Iran via neighboring Iraq.
Hezbollah and its main Shia ally Amal are widely believed to have cast their ballots for Aoun in the second round after withholding their votes in the first round. Aoun won by 99 parliamentary votes out of 128 in the second round of votes.
The Lebanese army did not participate in the all-out war with Israel but is a key player in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement. This stipulates that the army must deploy to areas dominated by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, which borders Israel. It also requires Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanese territory.
As part of the tiny eastern Mediterranean country’s confessional power-sharing system, Lebanon’s president is typically a Maronite Christian.
