This was not an ordinary presidential election. First, because it came after more than two years without a head of state; there was no leader while Lebanon was at war last fall. Second, because this was an election without a campaign, without programs, without slogans and without popular participation.

On Thursday, Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president. The result of the vote was not due to the persuasive power of the candidates, but to an arrangement between clan leaders, under pressure from the international community.

A sign of this very special atmosphere, French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, one of the “godfathers” of the vote, was present in parliament; his American counterpart has just left Beirut, as has the Saudi foreign minister, another key player in the political drama.

Hezbollah lifts objections

As a result of intense behind-the-scenes negotiations in recent days Lebanon elected a new president today: Joseph Aoun, a general by profession and the current head of the Lebanese national army.

The regional and Lebanese context has dramatically changed since Hamas' Oct.7, 2023 attack on Israel, particularly in recent months. Concerning Lebanon alone, the considerable weakening of Hezbollah in its war with Israel has played a key role. The Iran-backed Shiite movement has lost its historic leader, Hassan Nasrallah, along with much of its military capabilities. Its Iranian patron is also in a weakened position following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

Hezbollah had been the insurmountable obstacle in Lebanon’s political life. Yet it no longer has the means to maintain that role, even though the demographic weight of the Shiite community still exerts influence.

At the last moment, Hezbollah lifted its objections to Aoun’s candidacy, particularly after a meeting yesterday between Le Drian and the leader of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc. This marks a French characteristic, in contrast to the Americans, of maintaining contact with the political wing of Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist organization in Europe and the United States.

A new beginning

What will the election of a president change? On the French side, the emphasis is mainly on what a new failure this Thursday would lead to: Everyone would turn away from Lebanon at a time when it needs support to maintain the ceasefire with Israel, to strengthen its national army, and to assist in reconstruction.

The election of a president is therefore a beginning, not an end; the lawmakers cannot afford to make a mistake.

The real losers are those who still dream of a Lebanon free of sectarianism, the scheming among the heirs of the civil war, and the weight of regional interference. After the explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, a youth uprising had broken down communal barriers. But the movement was repressed and lost momentum. Lebanon never experienced its spring, and Hezbollah, once all-powerful, is largely to blame for that.

Now that this Christian general is elected president, everything will remain to be done in Lebanon, with a still uncertain new Syria at its doorstep, a fragile peace with Israel, and a state that exists only intermittently. Aoun has not been elected to change everything, but simply to save what can be saved — and that’s something!