What happened
Lebanon’s parliament elected army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun president Thursday, ending a political deadlock that had kept the office vacant since October 2022. Aoun, 60, won 99 of 128 votes.
Who said what
The election of Aoun, widely seen as the preferred candidate of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, reflects the “weakened sway of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group after its devastating war with Israel,” Reuters said. In his victory speech to parliament, Aoun vowed to carry out judicial reforms, “rebuild what Israel destroyed,” and ensure the state’s right to “monopolize the carrying of weapons.” That last pledge drew “loud applause as lawmakers from Hezbollah — which runs its own military forces — sat still.”
The paused war with Israel has cost Lebanon an estimated $8.5 billion in losses and damage, six years into an unrelated financial crisis. The expectation is that Aoun’s election will “unlock desperately needed support from foreign donors,” The Washington Post said.
What next?
Aoun’s power is limited under Lebanon’s “power-sharing system, in which the president is always a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament Shiite,” The Associated Press said. But “only the president” can appoint a prime minister to form the country’s first fully empowered government since 2022.