Lebanon Has A President After 2-Year Gridlock, Vows Only State To Have ‘Monopoly’ On Arms

Lebanon finally has a new president of the nation on Thursday, after a years-long stalemated process which many Lebanese feared would never come to fruition. US-backed army chief Joseph Aoun has been elected after two rounds of voting by parliament, after which he immediately relinquished his military role and appeared in civilian clothing to be quickly sworn in.

Lebanon has been without a president since the tenure of Joseph Aoun (not related), which ended in October 2022. The small Mediterranean and Mideast country which sits West of Syria and north of Israel has been enduring a years-long financial and banking crisis, as well as a year-plus-long devastating war with Israel.

The past two years had witnessed no less that a dozen failed attempts to elect a new president, thwarted in large part by Hezbollah’s significant influence over the country.

CNN writes that “Hezbollah and its main Shia ally Amal are widely believed to have cast their ballots for Aoun in the second round after withholding their votes in the first round. Aoun won by 99 parliamentary votes out of 128 in the second round of votes.”

Parliament erupted in celebration as soon as enough votes were passed to secure Aoun as president of the country.

International pressure has been mounting for Lebanon to find way forward, given just 17 days remain in a 60-day ceasefire brokered with Israel which requires the deployment of Lebanese troops alongside UN peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon.

“No more mafias, no security hotbeds, no smuggling, no money laundering, no drug trafficking, no interference in the judiciary, no protections, no favoritism, and no immunity for a criminal, corrupt person, or perpetrator,” President Aoun said after being newly sworn in.

Crucially the new leader, who has the backing of the US and Saudi Arabia, has called for all militias, most notably including Hezbollah, to lay down their arms. He said only the state will have ‘monopoly’ on arms.

“My pledge is to exercise my role as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and to affirm the right of the state to monopolize the carrying of weapons,” he stated. “Lebanon has remained the same despite wars, bombings and mismanagement of our crises,” he elsewhere added.

He stressed: “If we want to build a country, we must all be under the umbrella of the law and the judiciary.” The 60-year old Maronite Christian has long previously vowed he would “limit political interference” in the army.

The now former military chief’s election is seen as a hugely positive sign that the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement will hold. Without a president, there was waning confidence that key aspects of the arrangement would find implementation, given it required much of south Lebanon to be administered by national army troops.

Hezbollah has long been better armed than even the national military, given also its support from Iran via former President Assad’s Syria. Hezbollah’s leadership has since been decimated and Assad ousted, and Lebanon has been on its knees as it hopes to rebuild following many months of brutal Israeli attacks on Beirut and other parts of the country.