A Maronite Christian who received military training in the United States has been elected president of Lebanon. The election in the Lebanese Parliament Thursday of Joseph Khalil Aoun breaks a two-year-plus deadlock in getting the country past a caretaker government.
Aoun, who has been commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces since 2017, received 71 out of 128 votes in the first round of voting but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. He garnered 99 votes in the second round.
One of his first tasks will be to oversee a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and “naming a prime minister to lead reforms demanded by international creditors to save the country from the worst economic crisis in its history,” according to Ahram Online.
Aoun said in an acceptance speech that he is committed to "ending the Israeli occupation and rebuilding southern Lebanon." He said he would call for "quick parliamentary consultations" on naming a new prime minister.
According to convention, a Maronite Christian is to serve as president of Lebanon, a Sunni Muslim as prime minister, and a Shia Muslim as speaker of parliament.
The president serves as head of state.
Respected for his integrity
Aoun, who turns 61 on Friday, was born in the Sin el-Fil suburb of the Metn district, east of the capital Beirut.
The Middle Eastern news outlet Al-Monitor noted that as the head of Lebanon’s army, Aoun “has built a reputation for personal integrity. Many view him as incorruptible and a stabilizing figure for the nation.”
He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a focus on international affairs from the Lebanese American University and another bachelor's in military science. In addition to his native Arabic language, he is fluent in English and French.
Aoun enlisted in the army in 1983, and has received military training in Lebanon and Syria. He also attended an international defense management course in the United States in 1999 and another international counter terrorism program between 2008 and 2009.
According to Al-Monitor, he was appointed in 2015 commander of the 9th Brigade, tasked with operations along the border with Israel. Just a year later, he was assigned to eastern Lebanon, near the Syrian border, where Islamist militants had established strongholds.
“Under his leadership, the LAF led in August 2017 the so-called Fajr al-Joroud battle against the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra in the barren lands (joroud) of Ras Baalbeck and al-Qaa in eastern Lebanon along the border with Syria,” said Al-Monitor. “The swift operation, which lasted less than two weeks, saw the killing of more than 150 jihadists, according to the army. A total of seven soldiers were killed in the battles, while the remains of eight soldiers who were kidnapped in 2014 and later executed by ISIS were found in the outskirts of Arsal. Aoun at the time said the military achieved a ‘decisive victory against terrorism.’”
More recently, during the cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted on October 8, 2023, the Lebanese Armed Forces maintained a neutral stance, the news outlet pointed out.
Aoun is married to Neemat Nehmé (in photo above) with whom he has two children, Khalil and Nour. He is not related to former president Michel Aoun.
In his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis expressed his hope that Lebanon, “with the decisive help of its Christian community, can possess the necessary institutional stability needed to address the grave economic and social situation, to rebuild the south of the country affected by war, and fully to implement the Constitution and the Taif Agreement.”
Said the Pope, “May all Lebanese work to ensure that the country of the great cedars is never disfigured by division, but rather distinguished for ‘living together.’ May Lebanon remain a country and a message of coexistence and peace.”
