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MADRID 9 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Chief of the General Staff of the Lebanese Army, General Joseph Aoun, is emerging as the favorite to lead the country before the session to elect a new president this Thursday, after more than two years of vacancy, after several parliamentary groups have announced that They will vote for the one they consider to be the candidate who enjoys great consensus, and the candidate proposed by the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah has withdrawn from the presidential race.
The announcement occurred during a press conference held after a meeting between the leaders of the Lebanese Forces parties, which holds the largest bloc in the Chamber, the Kataeb, and ten other parliamentarians, among whom is Fuad Majzumi, of the Renewal Block, who has read the declaration.
“After intense consultations in preparation for the January 9, 2025 session, and the commendable international efforts of friends of Lebanon who sought to lead it out of its political crisis, especially after the wars that caused havoc and destruction, the deputies of the opposition forces came to the conclusion that the candidate who enjoys a great consensus is General Joseph Aoun, and consequently decided to support him for the position of president of the Lebanese Republic and vote for him,” he said. explained.
Majzumi has defended the efforts of political forces to find a presidential candidate “who enjoyed the broadest national consensus” despite “tensions and attempts at imposition” for more than 18 months, which he attributed to “resistance”, as calls itself Hezbollah.
The politician and businessman has reiterated the demands of these formations in order to elect who will hold the head of State, a position vacant since the mandate of the previous president Michel Aoun expired on October 31, 2022: a president “who restores sovereignty of the State over all its territories and borders, implement the provisions of the Constitution and Taef (accords), and restore Lebanon’s status, role and relationship with its Arab and international environment.
Likewise, he has called on the rest of the parliamentarians of “all national tendencies to assume their responsibilities, to restore hope to the Lebanese”, by voting for General Joseph Aoun, and thus “launch a process to save the country, restore the State and its sovereign national decision, and limit weapons to the hands of its legitimate institutions” – a demand this last in reference to Hezbollah -, apply “international resolutions and agreements 1559, 1680 and 1701, (…) and the implementation of economic, financial, social and structural reforms”.
The announcement comes after the favorite candidate of Hezbollah and the Amal movement, the Maronite Christian (and close to Damascus) Suleiman Frangie, of the Free Patriotic Movement of Lebanon (MPL), withdrew his candidacy and expressed his support for the general, alleging that “has the characteristics of preserving the position of the first Presidency,” and wishing Parliament “success in the electoral process” and “that the country overcomes this stage with unity, conscience and responsibility.”
International pressure seems to have convinced the different blocs about General Aoun – whose candidacy gained momentum after the fall of Bashar Al Assad in Syria on December 8 and as a consequence of the war between Hezbollah and Israel – after the talks this Wednesday in Beirut between the French and Saudi Arabian envoys in the country, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Yazid Bin Farhan, respectively, and the diplomatic efforts of their American counterpart, Amos Hochstein, who was in Riyadh earlier this week.