Lebanon’s Parliament will try to pick President after 12 failed attempts over two years

Lebanon's parliament to elect President after 2-year vacuum, with army commander Joseph Aoun as leading candidate.

Lebanon’s parliament was set to make yet another effort to elect a President on Thursday (January 9, 2025), filling a vacuum that’s lasted for more than two years.

While 12 previous attempts have failed to choose a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022, there are indications that Thursday’s (January 9, 2025) vote may produce a head of state.

The leading candidate is Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun, no relation to the former President. He is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah previously backed another candidate, Suleiman Frangieh, the leader of a small Christian party in northern Lebanon with close ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad.

However, on Wednesday (January 8, 2025), Mr. Frangieh announced he had withdrawn from the race and endorsed Mr. Aoun, apparently clearing the way for the Army chief.

Lebanon’s fractious sectarian power-sharing system is prone to deadlock, both for political and procedural reasons. The small, crisis-battered Mediterranean country has been through several extended presidential vacancies, with the longest lasting nearly 2 1/2 years between May 2014 and October 2016. It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected.

As a sitting army commander, Joseph Aoun is technically barred from becoming President by Lebanon’s constitution. The ban has been waived before, but it means that Mr. Aoun faces additional procedural hurdles.