Lebanon’s parliament chose the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

Lebanon's parliament, led by Speaker Nabih Berri, paused a presidential election session for further consultations after the candidate, Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun, failed to secure the necessary 86 votes in the first round.

The weakening of Hezbollah in last year's war with Israel allowed Lebanon's long deadlocked parliament to reach consensus around a president who has the confidence of the international community. Deadlock in parliament between pro- and anti-Hezbollah blocs had stalemated a dozen previous attempts to elect a president,

Lebanese political heavyweights held talks Wednesday a day ahead of a parliamentary session to elect a president, but even with key player Hezbollah weakened by war, there is no guarantee of consensus.

Lebanon’s parliament is set to vote to elect a president to fill a more than an two-year-long presidential vacuum

Despite pressure by the United States and others to elect a president in order to receive financial support, a consensus candidate has yet to emerge who can clearly end Lebanon’s political gridlock.

A ruthless warlord during the civil war, his nomination for president would be deeply divisive. Indeed, he was one of General Aoun’s earliest supporters. Trying to veto a candidate who had little chance of winning anyway says much about Hizbullah’s diminished power.

Reflecting the shifts, Hezbollah and its ally the Shi'ite Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri have dropped their insistence on Suleiman Frangieh, their declared ca

Lebanon's parliament chose the head of the country's armed forces, Joseph Aoun, to be its next president, a post that's been vacant since October 2022.