Lebanon army chief Aoun becomes president after two-year void
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2025-01-10 01:43 GMT
BEIRUT: Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacancy in a step towards lifting the war-battered country out of financial crisis.
Aoun, who turns 61 on Friday, arrived in parliament to take the oath of office to general applause, wearing a dark suit and blue tie instead of his usual military uniform.
"Today, a new phase in Lebanon's history begins," he told the chamber.
Aoun faces the daunting tasks of overseeing a ceasefire in south Lebanon and naming a prime minister capable of implementing the reforms demanded by international creditors in return for a desperately needed financial bailout.
He said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.
He vowed that the state would have "a monopoly" on bearing weapons after a devastating war this autumn between Israel and Shiite militant group Hezbollah.
"I pledge to call for discussing a comprehensive defence strategy... on the diplomatic, economic and military levels that will enable the Lebanese state -- I repeat, the Lebanese state -- to remove the Israeli occupation and deter its aggression," he said.
Supporters erupted in celebration in Aoun's southern home village of Aishiyeh, where residents had gathered from the morning outside a church adorned with his portrait and Lebanese flags, an AFP reporter said.
"We want peace and calm in the country. We hope he will be able to achieve even half of what he promised," said elderly resident Salim Nasr.