Joseph Aoun elected as Lebanon's new President

Beirut: The Lebanese Parliament today elected Army Commander Joseph Aoun as the country's new president in its second session, ending a presidential vacuum that lasted over two years.

President Aoun received 99 votes out of 128. General Aoun is Lebanon's 14th president and was elected in the presence of French Presidential Envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, Saudi Envoy Yazid bin Mohammed bin Fahd Al Farhan, and ambassadors from the Quintet Committee overseeing the presidential file, including US Ambassador and several other diplomats.

Today's session marked the 13th attempt to elect a new president since former President Michel Aoun left office at the end of his term in October 2022.

According to the constitution, Lebanon's president is elected by secret ballot with a two-thirds majority in the first round of voting, and a simple majority is sufficient in subsequent rounds.

Lebanon entered a presidential vacuum on 31 October 2022, after the term of President Michel Aoun ended without Parliament being able to elect a new president. Despite the constitutional deadline for the election beginning on 1 September 2022, the election took place today after more than two years of vacancy, amid an Israeli aggression that left thousands of casualties and under the weight of a severe economic and financial crisis gripping the country.