Lebanon elects army head president after two-year vacancy

Lebanon's parliament yesterday elected the army commander Joseph Aoun as the country's new president, ending a more than two-year vacancy and increasing confidence that a ceasefire with Israel will hold.

- William Christou

Aoun received 99 out of 128 votes in the 13th attempt by a deeply divided parliament to elect a new head of state after the departure of the former president Michel Aoun, who is no relation, in October 2022.

Aoun was the favoured candidate of international powers such as Saudi Arabia, France and the US, which enjoyed good relations with him as head of Lebanon's armed forces.

The main task for Aoun is to reassert the role of the army, particularly in south Lebanon, where since the 1970s its control has been contested by groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hezbollah.

Speaking before parliament, Aoun pledged to "confirm the state's right to monopolise the carrying of weapons" and emphasised the army's right to control the country's borders.

All armed groups in Lebanon were meant to disarm under a 2004 UN resolution but Hezbollah retained its arms, claiming that it was the only force that could protect Lebanon from Israel.

The Lebanese army has historically been a weak force.

Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire signed in November, the army is to deploy in south Lebanon while Hezbollah is meant to withdraw, in what politicians and diplomats have styled as the reclaiming of Lebanese state sovereignty.