Lebanese Army Commander Joseph Aoun has been elected as Lebanon’s new president.
The 61-year-old becomes Lebanon’s 14th president, filling the more than two-year gap left by his predecessor, Michel Aoun, who is not related to the new president.
The appointment of Joseph Aoun overcame great difficulties. The Lebanese parliament had previously convened 12 times to elect a president, but failed to elect a single person.
Aoun’s support in parliament came from a variety of politicians, and he eventually won 99 votes in the 128-seat parliament in the second round of voting.
But who is Joseph Aoun? And why did it take so long for the Lebanese parliament to agree that he was the right person to lead the country?
military experience
Born in 1964 in Sin el-Fil, a northern suburb of Beirut, Aoun rose to prominence during his time as commander of the Lebanese army, a position he assumed in 2017 and, like any other Lebanese president, is expected to hold the position. A member of the Maronite Christian sect, a sect of Aun.
Aoun’s official Lebanese Army biography states that he enrolled at the military academy in 1983 during the Lebanese civil war.
He steadily rose through the ranks, receiving a variety of training in Lebanon and abroad, including in U.S. counter-terrorism programs. He was also awarded the Lebanon War Medal three times, along with several other medals and honors.
In August 2017, shortly after taking charge of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Aoun launched an operation targeting ISIL (ISIS) fighters who have spent several years in the mountainous terrain between Syria and Lebanon, in particular, providing them with counter-terrorism training. I took advantage of it. Outside the Christian villages of Ras Baalbek and Qaa in the northeast of the Bekaa Valley.
The success of the operation increased Aoun’s standing. And Aoun’s years at the top of the LAF have allowed him to build close relationships with a variety of regional and international actors, including the United States, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. command.
economic and political crisis
Aoun’s tenure as commander of the Lebanese army coincided with a period of great difficulty for the country.
Millions of Lebanese people are struggling due to the economic crisis that has persisted for several years. Many soldiers had to take on second jobs to make ends meet.
The economic crisis has been seen as emblematic of a broader governance crisis in Lebanon. The sectarian political system has reinforced an aging political gerontocracy associated with corruption and political mismanagement.
The horror of the August 2020 Beirut explosion, which killed more than 220 people, has added to the feeling that the country’s rulers have completely failed the Lebanese people.
And when President Michel Aoun stepped down from office in October 2022, Lebanon’s parliament was unable to agree on a successor despite meeting repeatedly to vote. This effectively paralyzed the Lebanese state and required action to confront the country’s economic challenges.
Aoun’s Lebanese military institutions were widely seen as weaker than the Shiite group Hezbollah, another factor undermining the effectiveness of the Lebanese state.
To further worsen the situation in the country, Israel’s war on Gaza quickly gravitated toward Lebanon when Hezbollah began a gun battle with Israel on October 8, 2023, ultimately leading to two months of devastating Israeli bombing and the loss of more than 4,000 lives. It ended with a land invasion. It culminated in a ceasefire agreement on November 27 last year.
opportunity
But despite the death and destruction, the resolution of the war finally cleared the way for a president to be elected, as international and domestic pressure grew to find a solution and send the message that Lebanon would begin rebuilding.
Aoun, who only began to be taken seriously as a presidential candidate in 2023, was the man to take advantage of this.
He kept the Lebanese army out of the war against Israel, despite the deaths of more than 40 Lebanese troops during that period, and was seen as a key figure in securing Lebanon’s commitment to a ceasefire that stipulated that Hezbollah must withdraw. They are replaced by Lebanese troops south of the Litani River to allow Israel to retreat behind the UN-defined border between Lebanon and Israel.
Israel in particular welcomed Aoun’s appointment.
But it is difficult to define Aoun politically beyond his external and domestic support, which is probably one of the reasons he was elected president.
Not much is known about his political views and he has rarely been interviewed. But in 2021, he criticized politicians for Lebanon’s financial crisis, saying soldiers were starving.
Aoun did not take a clear position on Hezbollah’s arsenal, but promised in his inauguration speech to “affirm the state’s right to monopolize the transport of weapons.” It is not yet known what steps he will take to enforce this, and it would be difficult to see Hezbollah accepting the call to disarm.
The new president also promised to rebuild areas targeted by Israel, including the south and Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburbs.
His emphasis on national unity came at a rare moment of consensus. Aoun’s appointment ends a bitter period of division in parliament.
But it will take much more time to prove to the Lebanese people that the country has truly reached a turning point, and that Lebanon’s political leadership actually has the ability to make the lives of millions of Lebanese people better. years.
