
Former army chief Joseph Aoun after being elected as Lebanon's president at the parliament building in Beirut on Jan. 9, 2025. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Army Commander-in-Chief General Joseph Aoun was elected on Thursday as the 14th president of the Republic of Lebanon, with 99 out of a possible 128 votes in Parliament, winning the necessary two-thirds majority in the electoral session's second round of voting.
After just over two years and two months of political deadlock, in which 12 attempts to elect a president failed, Aoun, who hadn't official declared his candidacy, has become the official successor of Michel Aoun, to whom he has no relation and who left office in October 2022, at the end of his six year term.
(Credit: Jaimee Lee Haddad/L'Orient Today)
During the first round of votes, Aoun only appeared on 71 of the 128 MPs' ballots, missing the two-third mark that was especially necessary for his own election considering that according to the Constitution, first-grade civil servants aren't allowed to run for president.
Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri called a two-hour break during which Hezbollah and Amal, who appeared to have cast blank ballots during the first round, held talks with Aoun. During the second voting session, Aoun acquired the necessary votes to both override the Constitution and take on the role as president.
Aoun, who was seen as the favored candidate of the U.S., which supports the Lebanese Army, told Parliament during his acceptance speech, "My mandate will be one of openness to the East and West, to the international community, based on mutual respect, Lebanon's sovereignty and the country's freedom to make its own decisions."
Saudi, American and French envoys all made diplomatic visits to Beirut in the week leading up to the election to drum up support for Aoun, using a mix of pressure and incentives to ensure a consensus would be met.
Lebanon has been under the authority of a fractured caretaker government since Michel Aoun's term ended, as it's the president's job to appoint a prime minister and with them, to form the Cabinet. "I'll be launching my consultations to form a government as soon as possible," Aoun said during the speech. "With Parliament and the government, we're going to straighten out the administration to restore the prestige of the State and set up a modern, efficient administration."
Aoun's election was also closely tied to international aid that Lebanon depends on receiving as the country recovers from one of the deadliest bombing campaigns of the 21st century: Israel's widespread bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon during all-out war with Hezbollah from Sept. 23 to Nov. 27, 2024.
The fragile 60-day cease-fire agreement, during which the Israeli army has continued its aggression on southern Lebanon and the border with Syria, involves strengthening the Lebanese Army and having it replace Hezbollah south of the Litani River. Addressing this, Aoun said, "I will work to revitalize the role of the security forces. I will be the first to defend the national pact, and I will carry out my mandate with fairness and justice. I will discuss a defense strategy for the Lebanese state to fight against the Israeli invasion. And I do mean the Lebanese state."