Lebanese Military commander Joseph Aoun is the new president of Lebanon.
The 61-year-old turns into Lebanon’s 14th president, having crammed a presidential vacuum of greater than two years left by his predecessor, Michel Aoun – who isn’t associated to the brand new president.
Joseph Aoun’s appointment overcomes a significant deadlock; Lebanon’s parliament had met on 12 prior events to vote for a president however did not elect one.
Aoun’s help in parliament got here from a large spectrum of political figures, and he ultimately gained 99 votes from the 128-seat parliament within the second spherical of voting.
However who’s Joseph Aoun? And why did it take so lengthy for the Lebanese parliament to agree that he was the suitable particular person to guide the nation?
Army expertise
Born in 1964 in Sin el-Fil, a northern suburb of Beirut, Aoun got here to prominence throughout his time as Lebanon’s military commander, a place he ascended to in 2017, and which, just like the president of the republic, must be occupied by a member of Aoun’s sect, Maronite Christianity.
Aoun’s official Lebanese military biography states that he enrolled within the army academy in 1983, in the course of the Lebanese civil battle.
He steadily rose by way of the ranks, present process varied coaching in Lebanon and overseas, together with with the US counterterrorism programme. He additionally was awarded Lebanon’s Medal of Warfare 3 times, together with a number of different medals and honours.
In August 2017, shortly after taking cost of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Aoun put his counterterrorism coaching to make use of by launching an operation focusing on ISIL (ISIS) fighters who had spent years within the mountainous terrain between Syria and Lebanon – notably on the outskirts of Christian villages Ras Baalbek and Qaa within the northeastern Bekaa Valley.
The operation’s success boosted Aoun’s standing. And Aoun was additionally ready to make use of his years on the high of the LAF to forge shut connections with varied regional and worldwide actors, together with america, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – a community that has been notably helpful in gathering help round Aoun for the presidency.
Financial and political crises
Aoun’s time period as commander of the Lebanese military coincided with a interval of unimaginable issue for the nation.
A years-long financial disaster has left thousands and thousands of Lebanese struggling – many troopers within the military have needed to tackle second jobs to get by.
The financial disaster has been seen as emblematic of the broader governance disaster in Lebanon. A sectarian political system has entrenched an ageing political gerontocracy, related to corruption and political mismanagement.
The horror of the Beirut explosion in August 2020, which killed greater than 220 individuals, added to the sense that the nation’s rulers had fully failed the Lebanese individuals.
And when President Michel Aoun vacated the presidency in October 2022, the Lebanese parliament was unable to agree on a successor, regardless of assembly repeatedly to vote. This left the Lebanese state successfully paralysed, simply as motion was wanted to confront the nation’s financial challenges.
The establishment Aoun was in control of, the Lebanese military, was additionally extensively seen as weaker than the Shia group Hezbollah, one other issue eroding the effectiveness of the Lebanese state.
To worsen issues for the nation, Israel’s battle on Gaza rapidly dragged in Lebanon, as Hezbollah started an change of fireside with Israel on October 8, 2023, which ultimately culminated in two months of devastating Israeli bombing and a land invasion that killed greater than 4,000 individuals, and culminated with a ceasefire deal on November 27 final yr.
Alternative
However, regardless of the dying and destruction, the battle’s decision did open a pathway to lastly deciding on a president, as worldwide and home strain elevated to discover a resolution and ship a message that Lebanon would start to rebuild.
Aoun, who solely started to be taken critically as a presidential candidate in 2023, was the person to take benefit.
He stored the Lebanese military out of the battle with Israel, regardless of the killing of greater than 40 Lebanese troops throughout that interval, and he has additionally been seen as an vital determine in guaranteeing Lebanon’s dedication to the ceasefire, which stipulates that Hezbollah should pull again from south of the Litani River and get replaced by the Lebanese military, to make sure that Israel will pull again behind the UN-defined border between Lebanon and Israel.
Notably, Israel has welcomed Aoun’s appointment.
However outdoors of the exterior and home help for Aoun, it’s laborious to outline him politically, maybe one of many causes for his success in being chosen as president.
Not a lot is understood about his political beliefs, and he not often gave interviews – though in 2021 he did criticise politicians for Lebanon’s monetary disaster, saying that troopers have been going hungry.
Aoun had not acknowledged a transparent place on Hezbollah’s weapons arsenal, however in his inauguration speech, he did pledge “to affirm the state’s proper to monopolise the carrying of weapons”. What steps he’ll take to implement that stay to be seen, and it is going to be tough to see Hezbollah acquiescing to any demand for it to disarm.
The brand new president additionally pledged to rebuild the areas focused by Israel, together with the south and the Beirut Dahiyeh suburb.
His emphasis on nationwide unity comes at a uncommon second of settlement; Aoun’s appointment ends a bitter interval of parliamentary division.
However it can take far more to show to the Lebanese those that the nation has now really turned a nook, and that its political management has the flexibility to truly make the lives of thousands and thousands of Lebanese higher – a task it has failed in for thus a few years.
