By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-01-11 20:15:05 | Updated at 2025-01-11 23:47:42
3 hours ago
The man Lebanon’s parliament chose to be the country’s new president was the preferred candidate of the US, Europe and Saudi Arabia, who the war-torn country will need help from to rebuild, according to reports.
Joseph Aoun, 61, Lebanon’s army commander, takes the role of president after over two years of the seat being empty and 13 attempts to vote in a leader.
Aoun headed the country’s army since 2017 and was selected Thursday to succeed Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022.
The two are not related.
The election came amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese terror outfit Hezbollah and as the country is desperate for reconstruction following financial collapse in 2021 and Israel’s barrage on the Iran-backed terrorist group.
Aoun kept his troops out of the year-long war between Israel and Hezbollah and largely avoided being in the media, according to reports.
In a speech to parliament, Aoun vowed to reform the country’s judicial system, fight corruption and consolidate the state’s right to “monopolize the carrying of weapons,” apparently referencing Hezbollah.
He has also said he will “remove the Israeli occupation” in southern Lebanon and reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs,” according to reports.
The Israeli army has considered extending its presence in Lebanon beyond the ceasefire agreement, saying the Lebanese Army is deploying slower than expected and not attacking Hezbollah targets.
Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told the Associated Press that the weakening of Hezbollah following its war with Israel and the fall of its ally, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, helped paved the way for Aoun’s win.
Aoun “has never had a conflictual relationship with Hezbollah, but he has also never acquiesced to Hezbollah,” Slim said, and he will have to navigate the “contradictions” inherent in the fractured Lebanese political landscape.
As Aoun was sworn into office Thursday, supporters took to the streets, shooting off fireworks and gunshots and slaughtering a sheep in celebration, according to reports.
With Post wires
