Lebanon’s Parliament on Thursday elected the country’s army commander Joseph Aoun as its president, ending a two-year deadlock and power vacuum at the top of the country’s political power structure.
The U.S.-backed army chief was voted president after two rounds of voting amid verbal clashes with Lebanese lawmakers shouting at each other following 12 previous attempts over the past two years to elect a successor to the former president, Michel Aoun – no relation – whose term ended in October 2022.
Joseph Aoun’s election comes after Hezbollah had previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad, who then withdrew from the race and endorsed the U.S.-trained general who has now effectively stepped down as army chief.
Joseph Aoun is the Lebanon’s fifth army commander to become president, and the fourth in a row.
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His election is considered a considered a clear sign that Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s influence is waning after suffering heavy blows from Israel following months air strikes and artillery attacks and due to the downfall of its ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.
In his acceptance speech, Aoun hailed the dawn of a “new era” in Lebanon as it seeks to rebound after a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on Nov. 27.
Aoun promised to free the country from the clutches of its frequent economic and political crises that have depleted country’s currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese citizens.
Shortly after the ceasefire on Dec. 21 Beirut’s beloved Metropolis Cinema, championed by Lebanese filmmakers as an indie cinema beacon amid bombings, despair and dysfunction, came back to life on with the inauguration of a new venue in a highly symbolic opening graced by messages of support from Nadine Labaki and Cate Blanchett.