The Lebanese parliament has elected Chief of General Staff Joseph Aoun as the country’s new president. Lebanon has not had a regular head of state since 2022.
Aoun received 99 votes in a second vote, gaining the required majority. Earlier on Thursday, the elections failed again.
In the first vote, no candidate could gain the upper hand. As the most promising candidate, Chief of General Staff Aoun received only 71 out of 128 votes. To be successful he would have had to receive at least 86 votes. At least 65 votes were needed in the second round.
Joseph Aoun is currently responsible for overseeing the November ceasefire between the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia and Israel. As a political party, Hezbollah is a key factor in power in Lebanon.
No president since 2022
There was a heated debate in parliament before the votes. Some MPs refused to vote for Aoun. They argued that a constitutional amendment should take place first. According to the constitution, people who have held a high official position in the past two years cannot be elected president. However, this rule has already been broken by previous presidential candidates.
The small Mediterranean country is stuck in a political power vacuum. Lebanon has been without a president for more than two years after Michel Aoun – no relation to army chief Aoun – left office as planned in 2022. To date, the election of a president has repeatedly failed due to infighting within the political elite.
High offices divided among religions
Since Michel Aoun left office, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has also been acting head of state in the country of about six million inhabitants. The current government also has limited capacity to act. According to proportional representation based on ethno-religious criteria, the president in Lebanon must be a Christian, the head of the government a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim.
Source: Krone
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