Lebanon’s fractured Parliament overcame more than two years of gridlock on Thursday to select a new president, a critical step toward bringing stability to a country attempting to recover from economic catastrophe and a devastating war.
Lawmakers elected Gen. Joseph Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese military, by an overwhelming majority in the second round of voting, with 99 votes in the 128-seat Parliament, after he failed to achieve the necessary tally in the initial round. It was a breakthrough in the effort to form a government after more than two years of weak caretaker rule.
“Today, a new phase in Lebanon’s history begins,” General Aoun said during his victory speech.
The vote was seen as a crucial milestone for Lebanon, and people in Beirut, the capital, celebrated with fireworks and gunfire as the results became clear. The crisis-hit nation has endured a series of disasters in recent years, including an economic collapse and a war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that has left large areas in ruins.
The election on Thursday — which frequently descended into shouting matches — also reflected shifting power balances in the region and came at an unnerving time for Lebanon. In neighboring Syria, an untested government is attempting to chart a path forward after years of civil war. The fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the military defeat of Hezbollah, the militia that has long been Lebanon’s dominant political force, have also meant a sudden loss of power for their patron, Iran.
Lebanon’s international backers, including the United States, have implied that postwar financial support is contingent on the election of a president. According to the World Bank, the Israel-Hezbollah war, which has been suspended during a fragile 60-day cease-fire, has caused $8.5 billion worth of damage and losses in Lebanon.
Since October 2022, when Michel Aoun stepped down as president at the end of his six-year term, the Parliament had voted on a replacement 12 times without success. Under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing agreement, the president must be a Maronite Christian.
Hezbollah has been a major roadblock, scuttling votes by walking out of the chamber. But the group was deeply weakened by the war with Israel and analysts noted that it likely felt it had to make concessions because of the scale of Lebanon’s financial need.
Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc remains strong and could have thwarted General Aoun’s election, but it ultimately threw its weight behind him on Thursday. The group’s candidate dropped out on the eve of the election, a widely expected move. Analysts said that the war had left Hezbollah little room to maneuver politically.
“He encapsulates the shift in the power balance in Lebanon,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.
General Aoun is now expected to appoint a prime minister, in consultation with Parliament, and the prime minister — who must be a Sunni Muslim — will then form a government. With no faction holding a majority, it is unclear how long that will take. General Aoun said he would seek consultations as soon as possible.
The new president, who is not related to Michel Aoun, is considered by analysts to have U.S. backing and is widely respected in Lebanon. He has led the armed forces since 2017, and they are the single national institution that enjoys cross-sectarian support.
“He is seen as an acceptable figure by all of Lebanon’s political elite,” said Lina Khatib, an associate fellow at Chatham House, a London-based research organization. “This is tied to the perception in Lebanon that the Lebanese Army is an institution working in the national interest.”
The U.S. and Saudi ambassadors attended the vote on Thursday, along with France’s special envoy to Lebanon and other foreign diplomats. A flurry of diplomatic efforts preceded the vote, including a visit earlier this week by Amos Hochstein, the top U.S. envoy in the region, who met with General Aoun and called on lawmakers to break the political gridlock.
The election of General Aoun, who will resign as army chief, will require an amendment to the Constitution, a step that has precedents but that led to raucous debate in the Parliament. Senior civil servants are required to resign two years before standing for public office.
Dozens of lawmakers cast protest votes in the first round, including one for “Joseph Amos Bin Farhan,” a jumbling of General Aoun’s name with those of the U.S. and Saudi envoys that reflected anger among some lawmakers over international influence.
Diplomats have said that they hope that General Aoun’s military career will allow him to exercise continued sway over the army and fully implement the U.N. Security Council’s Resolution 1701 — a 2006 agreement that ended the previous Israel-Hezbollah war but failed to keep the peace. They hope it will be a blueprint for a longer-term peace once the current cease-fire ends.
During his victory speech, General Aoun pledged that only the Lebanese state would have weapons, prompting applause in Parliament. Israeli officials have said they hope the Lebanese Army will crack down on Hezbollah’s activities in southern Lebanon.
“I hope that this choice will contribute toward stability, a better future for Lebanon and its people and to good neighborly relations,” Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign minister, said on social media.
Addressing Parliament and the nation, General Aoun tried to reassure the Lebanese people that he would help restore stability to the country, pledging to empower the state and fight corruption. He also spoke directly about the devastation of the Israeli war with Hezbollah.
“My pledge is to rebuild what Israel destroyed,” he said.
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
