Vacancy, interim, prorogation: Lebanon in tatters

Lebanon has been without a president since October 2022. Its government has been running its affairs since May 2022. Its deputies occasionally go to Parliament. Yet, its institutions continue to function, rather badly, through interim appointments, dubious nominations and prorogations.

Since the end of Michel Aoun's term of office on Oct. 31, 2022, the succession to several key state posts, linked as much to security as to justice and finance, has been filled in this way in an attempt to limit the damage in a country. In the throes of structural collapse, this has created political and denominational upheavals.

While a Maronite replaced a Shiite at the head of General Security in March, the opposite happened a few months later at the Banque du Liban (BDL).

These alternative solutions have often been controversial and implemented at the last minute. The decisions come on top of a series of vacancies for civil servants, as well as the blocking, since even before the end of Aoun's term of office, of permutations of first and second-category diplomatic posts and judicial appointments.

Infographic by Jaimee Haddad

Here is a look back at the latest prorogations, appointments and interim successions decided in recent months to fill vacancies in key posts, amid Lebanon's presidential crisis.

Head of General Security: Elias Baissari

At the beginning of 2023, the question of Abbas Ibrahim's succession as head of General Security was widely debated as he reached retirement age. There was talk of extending his term of office, an idea supported by Hezbollah, but ultimately abandoned.

Elias Baissari was then appointed acting director general on March 3, 2023, based on a decision by the Ministry of the Interior. To ensure this succession, the office term of the senior General Security officer, responsible for the administration of Ibrahim's office and also nearing retirement, was extended by nine months.

With this interim appointment, Baissari, who is Maronite, occupies a position reserved for Shiites since the late 1990s.

In November 2023, General Baissari’s mandate was once again renewed for another year. He will therefore remain in office until December 2024.

If a new president is not elected, the acting director of General Security could once again see his mandate extended, as the Mikati government, charged with expediting current affairs, is not empowered to appoint a new director of the security service.

At the helm of BDL: Wassim Manssouri

Wassim Manssouri was appointed head of BDL on July 31, 2023. His appointment came after Riad Salameh's 30-year tenure, the end of which was marked by an unprecedented economic crisis and accusations, in Lebanon and abroad, of public funds misappropriation.

In May 2023, Hezbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah had already paved the way for Riad Salameh's succession. Nasrallah viewed that there would be no extension of Salameh’s term of office or designation of a successor, suggesting that the first deputy governor, a Shiite, should take over as interim head of the central bank, which is usually headed by a Maronite.

Before taking up his post, Manssouri set several conditions for the success of his mission. He required legal cover to continue drawing on the BDL's mandatory reserves and cooperation between the executive and legislative branches to implement the reforms required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release its financial aid to Lebanon.

At the helm of the army: Joseph Aoun extended

The extension of Joseph Aoun’s mandate was voted on by Parliament in mid-December 2023, and confirmed by the Mikati government four days later.

Aoun was due to step down as commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army on Jan. 10, but was finally retained in his post after deputies approved a one-year postponement of the retirement of generals heading the security services. The army chief, who was due to retire and would normally succeed him on an interim basis, had already retired in December 2022.

Before being approved, the extension of Aoun's term of office ran up against several obstacles, notably the Christian veto of Free Patriotic Movement (CPL) Leader Gebran Bassil. Bassil maintains close ties with the army chief, who is seen as a serious contender for the presidency.

At the beginning of January, the Aounist party also appealed to invalidate the law passed in Parliament, but the number one in the military institution was kept in his post, as the debates within the constitutional council ended in a stalemate.

According to several observers, Aoun's retention enables him to remain in the race for Baabda, pending the regional political settlement of the post-war situation in Gaza.

Hassan Audi appointed to the general staff

On Feb. 8, 2024, the cabinet unanimously appointed Hassan Audi to the post of army chief, which had been vacant since December 2022, despite a Christian refusal to see the outgoing cabinet make appointments in the middle of a vacancy at the head of state.

The cabinet studied the dossier based on a study drawn up by the council's Secretary General, Mahmoud Makkiyeh, to avoid a vacuum in the army. The cabinet emphasized that the circumstances of the war between Hezbollah and Israel in south Lebanon require the appointment of an army chief.

The appointment of the Druze officer, reportedly the result of contacts between Druze leader Walid Joumblatt and Marada chief Sleiman Frangieh, took place despite the boycott of the council by Aounist ministers, including Defense Minister Maurice Slim, and per the wishes of the army's commander-in-chief.

Jamal Hajjar appointed to attorney general

President of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary Souheil Abboud appointed Jamal Hajjar to the position of acting attorney general at the Court of Cassation on Feb. 20, 2024, as the government cannot make appointments that are not part of current affairs in the absence of a president.

Hajjar succeeded Ghassan Ouaidat, two days before the latter reached retirement age. The succession of Ouaidat, who had initiated proceedings against Judge Tarek Bitar — in charge of the investigation into the deadly Aug. 4 Beirut Blast — was eagerly awaited by the relatives of the tragedy’s victims.

The temporary head of the public prosecutor's office was presiding over the seventh criminal chamber of the Court of Cassation.

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour.