Lebanon’s parliament elected a new president on January 9 after a two-year political deadlock and 13 failed attempts. Joseph Aoun met the threshold for victory in the second round of voting after his rival, a Hezbollah-backed candidate called Suleiman Frangieh, withdrew from the race.
In his inaugural speech to parliament, President Aoun outlined a series of pledges to deal with the overlapping crises that have brought Lebanon to the point of collapse. However, delivering on these promises will be immensely challenging.
Aoun’s presidential victory is remarkable. He did not publicly campaign for the job, and none of the political parties sponsored him as their favoured presidential candidate. So, how did Aoun emerge to win the presidency?
