Army chief elected Lebanon's president after years of deadlock

BEIRUT, Lebanon

Lebanon's parliament has elected the country's army chief as president, ending a power vacuum that has lasted more than two years.

Joseph Aoun's candidacy for the mainly ceremonial role - which is reserved for a Maronite Christian under a sectarian power-sharing system - was backed by several key political parties, as well as the US, France and Saudi Arabia.

A rival preferred by Hezbollah, the powerful Shia Muslim militia and political party supported by Iran, withdrew on Wednesday and endorsed the commander.

His election comes six weeks after Lebanon agreed a ceasefire to end a war between Israel and Hezbollah, which left the group significantly weakened and devastated areas where it holds sway.

The Lebanese army, which Aoun had led since 2017, was not involved in the conflict and has a key role under the ceasefire deal. It is required to deploy soldiers in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw and to ensure Hezbollah ends its armed presence there by 26 January.

In a speech to lawmakers following his election on Thursday, Aoun declared that "a new phase in Lebanon's history" had begun.

The 60-year-old pledged to work during his six-year term to ensure that the Lebanese state had "the exclusive right to bear arms" - a reference to Hezbollah, which had built a force considered more powerful than the army to resist Israel before their 13-month conflict, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution that ended their last war in 2006.

Aoun said one of his main priorities was repairing the destruction caused by "Israeli aggression" in southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the eastern Bekaa Valley during the war, which the World Bank estimates will cost $8.5bn (£6.9bn).

He also promised to would push through the political and economic reforms widely seen as necessary in a country that has been affected by multiple crises.

Besides the Hezbollah-Israel conflict, they include a six-year-long economic depression that is one of the worst recorded in modern times, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people.

As president, Aoun will not be responsible for executive decisions. However, he will be responsible for signing bills into law, consulting political parties on the appointment of a prime minister and approving the cabinet before it goes to parliament for a vote of confidence.

Lebanon has not had a properly functioning government since the last parliamentary elections in May 2022.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was unable to secure backing for a new cabinet before then-president Michel Aoun's term ended that October, leaving his administration with reduced powers.

The deeply divided parliament then failed to elect a new president on 12 occasions.

Momentum built behind Aoun's candidacy on Wednesday, when Marada Movement leader Suleiman Frangieh, who Hezbollah had backed over the past two years, withdrew from the race and said the army chief had "the qualifications to preserve the position of the first presidency".

In Thursday's first round, 71 lawmakers voted in favour of Aoun, 15 short of the two-thirds majority he required in the 128-seat parliament. Another 37 lawmakers - many of them reportedly from Hezbollah and its ally Amal - cast blank ballots, while 20 ballots were declared invalid.

Several hours later, Aoun was elected president after receiving 99 votes in the second round, after Hezbollah and Amal backed him.

Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad said that by delaying the election, the group had "sent a message that we are the guardians of national consensus".

As soon as the result was announced by Speaker Nabih Berri, TV channels showed scenes of celebration around the country.

Aoun was later shown arriving at the parliament building, wearing a dark suit rather than his army uniform. He then inspected the guards before entering the chamber to be sworn in.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said the election was "a long-awaited first step towards overcoming Lebanon's political and institutional vacuum and providing the Lebanese people with the functioning state institutions they deserve".

"A prime minister must be designated and a government formed without delay. The tasks ahead of the Lebanese state are too monumental to waste any more time," she added.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Aoun on what he called a "crucial election" that "paves the way for reform and the restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty and prosperity".

The US embassy in Beirut said it was committed to working closely with Aoun as he begun "his efforts to unite the country, implement reforms and secure a prosperous future for Lebanon".

Iran's embassy also sent its congratulations and said it looked forward to working with Lebanon "in a way that serves the common interests of our countries".