beirut25 minutes ago
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Voting for the post of President was held in the Lebanese Parliament on Thursday.
Army Commander Joseph Aoun has been elected the new President of Lebanon. After two rounds of voting in Parliament on Thursday, 60-year-old Aoun has got the new responsibility. Till now 12 attempts had been made to fill the vacant post of President for the last two years.
In the first round, Joseph got 71 out of 128 votes. Which was less than the 86 votes required for majority. After this the second round of voting took place. In this he needed 65 votes. During this, he got 99 votes and was elected President.
Normally in Lebanon, an army commander or public servant cannot become president until two years after his resignation. However, this did not happen in Aun’s case. He was the Army Chief till he became the President.
Former President Michel was the preferred candidate of America, Saudi Voting for the President in Lebanon took place at a time when a deal was recently reached to stop the 14-month war between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. Former President Michel Aoun was considered the preferred candidate of America and Saudi Arabia.
Under his supervision, discussions were going on to re-establish Lebanon after the war. Michel’s tenure ended in October 2022. Since then the post of President was vacant.
For the presidential elections, Hezbollah had announced its support to Suleiman Frangieh, a small party of the Christian community. Frangih has a close relationship with former Syrian President Bashar Assad. On Wednesday, Frangieh had announced his support to Aoun by withdrawing his name from the presidential candidacy. After this it became easier for Joseph Aoun to become President.
According to Randa Slim, senior fellow in Washington DC, Hezbollah has been weakened militarily and politically after the war with Israel and the fall of its ally Assad in Syria. At the same time, international pressure was also increasing there to elect the President.
The post of president has remained vacant several times in Lebanon’s history. Most of these, the post of President was vacant from May 2014 to October 2016. After this Michel Aoun was elected President.
In Lebanon, elections for senior positions are held using power sharing formula. The post of President in Lebanon is decided on the power sharing formula there. Under which the President is a Christian, the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the Parliament is a candidate from the Shia community. There, only the President has the right to choose or remove the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
The powers of the caretaker government running in Lebanon for the last two years have been reduced. Because he was not chosen by the President.
Schools and other government buildings in Beirut were converted into shelters in October 2024.
Who is Joseph Aoun? President-elect Joseph Aoun was the fifth army commander. Aoun was elected army chief in March 2017 and was to retire in January 2024, but in the meantime the war between Hezbollah and Israel continued.
For this reason his tenure was extended twice. He also stays away from the media most of the time. Aoun never formally announced his candidacy.
Joseph Aun has been the fifth former army commander.
Will have to face many challenges as soon as he assumes power There will be many challenges for the new government of Lebanon in the times to come. Among these, full implementation of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire is important. Apart from this, development of Lebanon and solving the electricity crisis will be important.
According to analysts, it will also be important for the new government to deal with the contradictions in domestic Lebanese politics. Particularly the relationship with Hezbollah, which is not only a militant group but a political party that is supported by the Muslim people there.
Furthermore, the army commander has little experience in economic matters, which means he may rely heavily on his advisors.
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