by Fady Noun

The new president speaks of a new page in the history of Lebanon and ‘respect for the Constitution’. An appointment welcomed by the international community, including by Tel Aviv and Tehran. A military man to file away the disastrous war between Hezbollah and Israel and the 26 months of institutional vacuum.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - His inaugural speech drew, against the light, a portrait of a decaying Republic that only a political miracle could save. And this ‘miracle’ has come to fruition. Responding implicitly to the theory of the state of necessity familiar from French law, according to which ‘necessity makes law’, the Lebanese Parliament yesterday elected the commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun, to the presidency of the Republic.

An appointment for the 61-year-old [he has a birthday today, ed] high officer in open violation of Article 49 of the Constitution, which forbids first-ranking officials to hold office unless they have resigned at least two years previously.

However, to bring Lebanon out of a disastrous 13-month war between Hezbollah and Israel, and to unblock a political stalemate that had lasted 26 months, a soldier was needed, and not just any soldier: a soldier described as a ‘stubborn’ but also sensitive man, who did not forget that the pay of a private soldier had fallen to less than 100 dollars a month, due to the looting of the Treasury and a 70 billion dollar hole, the loss of which was passed on to savers.

Of course, there was also a price to pay for this adjustment of the trajectory: as of yesterday, Lebanon is ‘under trusteeship’, as the leader of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, declared yesterday during a television programme aimed at the general public. MP Paula Yacoubian even ventured the expression ‘white coup’ to describe what has happened in the last few hours. But 'necessity makes law’.

The ‘protection’ of which Geagea speaks is, of course, presented as ‘international assistance of a friendly nature’. An indispensable contribution after a long presidential holiday imposed by the ‘Shiite tandem’; on top of which comes a war that has decimated Hezbollah's command and brought the Cedar Country to its knees, with the destruction of 200 thousand housing units, the internal displacement of over a million Lebanese, more than 5 thousand dead and 20 thousand wounded.

After all, with the election of Joseph Aoun as president, a new era has ‘begun’ and a further pawn in the hitherto Iranian chessboard has fallen; this latest event follows the election of Donald Trump to the White House, the ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon on 27 November, and the collapse of dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

Now the cedar country is no longer under the yoke of Tehran's influence - which is still strong at home - but under the joint control of the United States, France, and Saudi Arabia. With the latter essential for rebuilding what Israel destroyed and continues to destroy in the south, as well as in the suburbs of Beirut and the Baalbeck region in the Bekaa.

Immense relief

It was with ‘immense relief’ that the Lebanese population greeted this turning point, watching the parliamentary session live on television and the election of General Joseph Aoun with 99 out of 128 votes.

An appointment made possible thanks to the agreement by the candidacy of the Shiite tandem, which was brought back to reason and accepted the election of a personality who has vowed do disarm it and reserve the monopoly of armed force to the Lebanese state alone.

In his inaugural speech, delivered in a strong and decisive voice, and described as historic by the Lebanese press, the new head of state assured that he would convene a debate on the ‘national defence strategy’, as called for by Hezbollah. However, no mention was made of the term ‘resistance’, nor of the famous triptych ‘army-people-resistance’.

In his view, ‘only the Lebanese state has the right to wage war against Israel’. No president had ever said this before. To the great satisfaction of the Maronite patriarch, as ecclesiastical sources tell AsiaNews, the new head of state has promised that Lebanon will henceforth respect the principle of ‘positive neutrality’ in its foreign relations.

A value, the latter, tirelessly defended in recent years by Card. Beshara Raï, vigorously contrasting it with the policy of axes and alliances that is a harbinger of divisions.

The speech was delivered in the presence of the entire Lebanese diplomatic community, seated in the balcony of the hemicycle, in particular the envoy of French President Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The latter was finally able to savour the happy result of two years of efforts to get out of the crisis. With him was a close associate of the head of Saudi diplomacy, Yazid Ben Farhan, who had managed the last feverish contacts before the vote. The US envoy Amos Hochstein had instead visited Beirut two days earlier.

Respect for the Constitution

‘My mandate will be placed under the principle of respect for the Constitution,’ the new president admonished, words that were followed by a long and warm applause from those present that resounded throughout the hemicycle.

‘I am honoured,’ he continued, ‘to be the first President of the Republic after the commemoration of the centenary of the State of Greater Lebanon, at a time when an earthquake has just hit the region, shaking alliances and toppling regimes. Borders are bound to change. However, Lebanon has remained as it is, despite the wars, attacks, interventions (in internal affairs), aggression, targets and mismanagement of our crises,' said the new head of state, adding: ’We are facing a crisis of governance that requires a change in political behaviour, to preserve our security and our borders. A change in economic policies, in the management of social affairs, in the concept of democracy, in the image of Lebanon abroad, in our relations with the diaspora, in the principles of accountability and control [...]. It is a crisis of governance and of those in power, of laws that are not applied or badly applied, badly interpreted and badly formulated'.

Islands of illegality

‘Today opens a new phase in the history of Lebanon,’ continued the president-elect, who has been committed from the beginning to protecting individual and collective freedoms. One after the other, his manifesto commitments were along the same lines. Joseph Aoun insisted on respect for the law and that ‘it is no longer possible, at this level, to practise a policy of double standards’.

‘No more mafias, no more islands of lawlessness, no more smuggling, no more money laundering, no more interference in the affairs of the judiciary and the police. No more protectorate and immunity for criminals, the corrupt and wrongdoers,' he said, before pledging to “work with the new government to pass a new bill on the independence of the judiciary”.

Added to this is the urgency of making judicial appointments that had been blocked by his predecessor Michel Aoun.

The homage of Tehran and Tel Aviv

Joseph Aoun's appointment as head of state was welcomed by the entire international community, including Tehran and Tel Aviv. 'I congratulate Lebanon on the election of a new president after a long political crisis. I hope this choice will contribute to stability, a better future for Lebanon and its people and good relations between neighbours,' Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote in a message on X (formerly Twitter).

The new president finally promised to convene without further delay binding parliamentary consultations for the appointment of a head of government. An executive ‘that will be a partner and not a rival’, emphasising the importance of ‘competence and not clientelism and sectarianism’ in the selection of officials. In this regard, it has already been agreed that consultations will begin next week.