| President of the Lebanese Republic | |
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| رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية (Arabic) | |
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| Style | His Excellency |
| Type | Head of state |
| Residence | Baabda Palace Beiteddine Palace (summer) |
| Appointer | Parliament |
| Term length | Six years, non-renewable immediately but renewable non-consecutively |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Lebanon (1926) |
| Formation | 1 September 1926; 99 years ago (1926-09-01) |
| First holder | Charles Debbas |
| Salary | £L225,000,000 annually |
| Website | Official website |
Thepresidentof the Lebanese Republic (Arabic:رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية,romanized: Ra’īs al-Jumhūriyyah al-Lubnāniyyah) is thehead of state ofLebanon. The president is elected by theparliament for a term of six years, which cannot be renewed immediately because they can only be renewed non-consecutively. Byconvention, the president is always aMaronite Christian who fulfills the same requirements as a candidate for the house of representatives, as per article 49 of the Lebanese constitution.[1]
The current holder isJoseph Aoun, who took office on 9 January 2025.[2]
The firstLebanese constitution was promulgated on 23 May 1926, and subsequently amended several times. Modeled after that of theFrench Third Republic, it provided for abicameral parliament with Chamber of Deputies and a Senate (although the latter was eventually dropped), a president, and a Council of Ministers, or cabinet. The president was to be elected by the Chamber of Deputies for one six-year term and could not be reelected until a six-year period had elapsed; deputies were to be popularly elected along confessional lines.
A custom of selecting major political officers, as well as top ranks within the public administration, according to the proportion of the principal sects in the population was strengthened during this period. Thus, for example, the president ought to be aMaronite Christian, the prime minister aSunni Muslim, and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies aShia Muslim. AGreek Orthodox and aDruze would always be present in the cabinet. This practice increased sectarian tension by providing excessive power to the Maronite president (such as the ability to choose the prime minister), and hindered the formation of a Lebanese national identity.[3] Under the Constitution, the French high commissioner still exercised supreme power, an arrangement that initially brought objections from the Lebanese nationalists. Nevertheless,Charles Debbas, aGreek Orthodox, was elected the first president of Lebanon three days after the adoption of the Constitution.
At the end of Debbas's first term in 1932,Bishara al-Khuri andÉmile Eddé competed for the office of president, thus dividing the Chamber of Deputies. To break the deadlock, some deputies suggestedShaykh Muhammad al Jisr, who was chairman of the Council of Ministers and the Muslim leader ofTripoli, as a compromise candidate. However, French high commissionerHenri Ponsot suspended the constitution on 9 May 1932, and extended the term of Debbas for one year; in this way he prevented the election of a Muslim as president. Dissatisfied with Ponsot's conduct, the French authorities replaced him withCountDamien de Martel, who, on 30 January 1934, appointedHabib Pacha Es-Saad as president for a one-year term (later extended for an additional year).
Émile Eddé was elected president on 30 January 1936. A year later, he partially reestablished the Constitution of 1926 and proceeded to hold elections for the Chamber of Deputies. However, the Constitution was again suspended by the French high commissioner in September 1939, at the outbreak of World War II.
DuringWorld War II when theVichy government assumed power over French territory in 1940, GeneralHenri Fernand Dentz was appointed as high commissioner of Lebanon. This new turning point led to the resignation of Lebanese presidentÉmile Eddé on 4 April 1941. After five days, Dentz appointedAlfred Naqqache for a presidency period that lasted only three months. The Vichy authorities allowedNazi Germany to move aircraft and supplies through Syria to Iraq where they were used against British forces. Britain, fearing that Nazi Germany would gain full control of Lebanon and Syria by pressure on the weak Vichy government,sent its army into Syria and Lebanon.[4]
After the fighting ended in Lebanon, GeneralCharles de Gaulle visited the area. Under various political pressures from both inside and outside Lebanon, de Gaulle decided to recognize the independence of Lebanon. On 26 November 1941, GeneralGeorges Catroux announced that Lebanon would become independent under the authority of the Free French government.[4]
Elections were held in 1943 and on 8 November 1943, the new Lebanese government unilaterally abolished the mandate. The French reacted by throwing the new government into prison. The High Commissioner installed Eddé as president. Ten days later, however, under pressure from France's Allies in World War II, the French removed Eddé from office and restored the government ofBechara El Khoury on 21 November. Parliamentary elections were held in May 1947 but many protested claiming that it was rigged deeming the parliament as illegitimated. However El Khoury was then also re-elected in1948.[5] El-Khoury faced significant opposition from traditionalZa'im leaders on whose powers his policies were beginning to impinge. In 1951 an alliance was formed betweenCamille Chamoun,Pierre Gemayel,Raymond Eddé,Kamal Jumblatt,Phalange andSyrian National Party. On 18 September 1952, amidst widespread demonstrations, El Khoury was forced into resigning.[6]
In 1952, Fouad Chehab refused to allow the army to interfere in the uprising that forced Lebanese presidentBechara El Khoury to resign. Chehab became theprime minister of Lebanon in September 1952, and hold the additional portfolio ofdefense minister.[7] Chehab was then appointed president with the duty to ensure an emergency democratic presidential election. Four days later,Camille Chamoun was elected to succeed El Khoury. During Chamoun's presidency, Lebanon experienced an economic boom, in particular in the construction, banking and tourism sectors.[8] He implemented a 1954 law on the creation of joint-stock companies and a 1956 law on banking secrecy.[8] According to Fawwaz Traboulsi, Chamoun concentrated power into his hands, blurring the limits of democracy and autocracy.[8]
In 1958, President Camille Chamoun was forced to resign after he attempted to amend the constitution to allow for his reelection. Pan-Arabists and other groups backed byGamal Abdel Nasser, with considerable support in Lebanon's Muslim (particularlySunni) community attempted to overthrow Chamoun's government in June 1958.Clashes then ensued between Sunni Arab Nationalists and pro-government Christians. This led to American intervention with Operation Blue Bat on 15 July 1958 by PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower in the first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine in which the US announced that it would intervene to protect regimes that it considered to be threatened by international communism.
The president of Lebanon is elected by theParliament of Lebanon.[9] In the lead up to the election, parliament was divided into factions, namely those who supported western nations and Chamoun and those favoring Nasser and the United Arab Republic. Chehab was viewed as a compromise candidate;[10] he was not interested in the presidency until "it became clear that he was the only candidate who had any hope of wide acceptance." As a result, he consented to be nominated on 28 July, only three days before the election.[9] Following a path of moderation and co-operating closely with the various religious groups, and with both secular and religious forces, Chehab was able to cool tensions and bring stability back to the nation. His ideology inspired the presidencies of two other presidents.
Charles Helou was then elected as the 4th president in 1964. Helou's lack of political affiliation gave him the appearance of a leader able to unite Lebanon and hewas chosen to succeedFuad Chehab as president by theNational Assembly.[11] TheSix-Day War of 1967, strained sectarian relations in Lebanon. ManyMuslims wanted Lebanon to join the Arab war effort, while many Christians wished to eschew participation. Helou managed to keep Lebanon from entanglement, apart from a brief air strike, but found it impossible to put the lid on the tensions that had been raised. Parliamentary elections in 1968 revealed an increasing polarization in the country, with two majorcoalitions, one pro-Arab Nationalism, led by Rashid Karami and the other pro-Western, led jointly by former president Camille Chamoun,Pierre Gemayel andRaymond Eddé, both made major gains and won 30 of the 99 seats each.
In addition, government authority was challenged by the presence of armedPalestinian guerrillas in the south of the country, and clashes between the Lebanesearmy and thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) became increasingly frequent. For a long time, Helou resisted their demands, but in 1969, after failing to end the rebellion militarily, he finally gave in, hoping that the Palestinian guerrillas would confine their operations to cross-border attacks against Israel and would stop challenging the Lebanese government. As it turned out, the clashes only intensified.
In 1970, Helou endorsedElias Sarkis as his chosen successor,[12] but the latter lost the election in the National Assembly by one vote toSuleiman Frangieh.
Civil war in Lebanon began on 13 April 1975.[13] Frangieh as the Lebanese President declared the Constitutional Document on 14 February 1976 that was the first serious initiative to end the conflict and reach a consensus.[13] The document empowered prime minister and suggested a "parity between Christians and Muslims in Parliament", reducing the power of Maronites.[13][14] Although it was supported by major politicians and religious leaders, it could not achieve its objectives.[13]
Élias Sarkis, the Chehabist nominee in the 1970 election - who lost the vote by a margin of only 1 vote - was elected on the second round of voting with 66% of the votes. He was the only person to receive a vote during the election, all other ballots containing blank votes. Almost a third of MPs were absent from the parliamentary session. As outgoing President Frangieh's term expired on 23 September of that year, he was therefore sworn on multiple months after the election. It was hoped that Sarkis would be able to unite the warring factions and end the emerging civil war; by September 1976, however, the situation had grown past the government's control asSyria and other countries began interfering and complicating the situation. On 5 March 1980, Sarkis developed his policy as part of his attempts to create national accord: unity, independence, parliamentarian democracy, rejecting theCamp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.
During the peaks of the civil war, an election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on 23 August 1982, resulting inLebanese Forces leader Bachir Gemayel being elected President of the Lebanese Republic after being the sole contender.[15] He was the youngest president to be elected. He notably has close relations with Israel, which lead to hisassassination in an explosion that killed more than thirty people by SSNP memberHabib Shartouni. He was assassinated before officially taking office. He was succeeded by his brotherAmine Gemayel. On 22 September 1988, 15 minutes before the expiration of his term, the outgoing presidentAmine Gemayel appointed Aoun as Prime Minister notwithstanding the tradition of reserving it for a Sunni Muslim, heading a military government to be formed by six members of the Martial Court, three of which are Christian and three are Muslims. He also dismissed the civilian administration of acting Prime MinisterSelim Hoss. The Muslims refused to serve, and submitted their resignations on the next day. Gemayel accuses Syria of forcing them to do so, claiming that they accepted their roles when he contacted them.[16] The two ended up heading rival administrations; with Aoun occupying the presidential palace atBaabda, al-Huss established his own office in Muslim-dominatedWest Beirut. In 1990, the civil war ended when Aoun was forced to surrender following an attack on the presidential palace bySyrian andLebanese military forces. Al-Huss subsequently resigned as prime minister, in favour ofOmar Karami.[17]
Following theTaif Agreement to end thecivil war, the National Assembly met on 5 November 1989 at theQoleiat air base in North Lebanon and elected Moawad as President of Lebanon. The post had been vacant since the expiration ofAmine Gemayel’s term in 1988. The National Assembly had failed to elect a successor at that time. Seventeen days after being elected, as he was returning from Lebanon's Independence Day celebrations on November 22, 1989, a 250 kgcar bomb was detonated next to Moawad's motorcade in WestBeirut, killing him and 23 others.[18] Presidential powers were handed over to the cabinet for two days until Hrawi was elected at the Park Hotel inChtoura by 47 out of 53 members of parliament on 24 November 1989.[19] SinceBaabda Palace, the president's residence, was destroyed and bombed by Syrian troops in October 1990 to drive out GeneralMichel Aoun, Hrawi lived in future prime ministerRafik Hariri's Beirut apartment.[20]
Emile Lahoud then ran for the presidency in 1998 after having the constitution amended to allow the army commander-in-chief to run for office. This amendment is believed to have been backed bySyria.[21] His presidency was secured following the receipt of 118 votes from the 128-member Lebanese Parliament.[22] When he became Lebanon's president in 1998, he aligned himself withHezbollah, and picked his own man as prime minister,Selim al-Hoss.[23] This led to heightened tensions betweenRafiq Hariri and Lahoud.[24] During his term, he exerted more control over government decision-making than Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri or Parliament SpeakerNabih Berri.[25] In 2007, his presidential term ended. However, a new president was not immediately elected. Following a political deadlock which lasted for six months, the Lebanese parliament elected former army chiefMichel Suleiman as president.[26]
From the expiration of the term of PresidentMichel Suleiman in May 2014 until 31 October 2016, the parliament was unable to obtain the majority required to elect a president, and the office was vacant for almost two and a half years, despite more than 30 votes being held. On 31 October 2016,Michel Aoun was elected as president, serving until 30 October 2022. Upon the expiration of Michel Aoun's term parliament was unsuccessful to elect a successor. However on 9 January 2025Joseph Aoun was finally inaugurated as President.
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The constitution requires the president hold the same qualifications as a member ofParliament (also called the Chamber of Deputies), which areLebanese citizenship and attainment of the age of twenty-one years.[27]
Though not specifically stated in the constitution, anunderstanding known as theNational Pact, agreed in 1943, customarily limits the office to members of theMaronite Christian community.[27][28] This is based on a gentlemen's agreement between Lebanon's Maronite Christian presidentBechara El Khoury and his Sunni Muslim prime ministerRiad Al Solh, which was reached in 1943, when Lebanon became independent ofFrance, and described that the president of the Republic was to be aMaronite Christian, theprime minister aSunni Muslim, and thespeaker of Parliament aShia Muslim.[28]
Article 50 of theconstitution of Lebanon requires the president to take an oath upon assuming office, which is prescribed thus:[29]
I swear by Almighty God to observe the Constitution and the laws of the Lebanese Nation and to maintain the independence of Lebanon and its territorial integrity.
Lebanon being aparliamentary republic, the President is essentially the repository ofreserve powers and the office is largely symbolic.[27] Nevertheless, he is an important member of the executive who shares many powers with theCouncil of Ministers.[30]
As per the constitution, the President
The President's powers have been reduced in 1990 under Ta'if, while the powers of the Council of Ministers were increased. Previously, the President only needed the "favourable advice" of his ministers.
The Presidential Residence was first located in Beirut and then moved to Sin el-Fil and Jounieh. In 1960s theresidence was moved to theBaabda Palace after its construction, located southeast ofBeirut, whereCharles Helou was the first to serve in.[32] In 1943 theBeittedinne Palace was declared as the official summer residence of the president.[33]
The president's car is aW221 Mercedes-Benz S 600 Guard armoured limousine and it is escorted by theRepublican Guard's SUVs and other security vehicles including the preceding official state car, an armouredW140 S 600 now possibly used as a backup limo.[34][35][36][37]
Thirty to sixty days before the expiration of a president's term, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies calls for a special session to elect a new president, which selects a candidate for a six-year term on a secret ballot in which a two-thirds majority is required to elect. If no candidate receives a two-thirds majority, a second ballot is held in which only a majority is required to elect. An individual cannot be reelected president until six years have passed from the expiration of his or her first term.[27][38]
The Constitution is silent on the issue of the quorum needed to call to order a parliamentary presidential electoral meeting. In the absence of a clear provision designating the quorum needed to elect the president, the constitution is open to differing interpretations. According to one view on the issue, a quorum constituting a majority of fifty-percent plus one (that required for any meeting of Parliament) is sufficient for a parliamentary presidential electoral meeting. Another view on the issue argues that the quorum is a two-thirds majority of the total members of Parliament as Article 49 of the constitution requires a two-thirds voting majority to elect the president in the first round and, if the quorum were half plus one, there would have been no need to require the two-thirds voting majority when the number of deputies present at the meeting does not exceed the quorum.[38]
A recurrent theme in Lebanese politics is the vacancy in the Lebanese presidency which has occurred for three consecutive times; no Lebanese president has directly transferred power to a successor without vacancy sinceElias Hrawi was succeeded byEmile Lahoud in 1998.[39] Unlike several other countries, the Lebanese constitution does not mention an "interim/acting" president. The constitution specifically states that the post of the presidency remains vacant, and some powers of the presidency are transferred to the council of ministers. Article 62 in the Lebanese constitution specifically states this:"Should there be a vacancy in the Presidency for any reason whatsoever, the Council of Ministers shall exercise the authorities of the President by delegation."[1] AfterMichel Aoun left the presidency in 2022 to vacancy, former prime ministerNajib Mikati said that he did not personally assume the powers of the presidency, as they will be delegated to the council of ministers as a whole.[40][41]
Lebanon now has two governments – one mainly Muslim in West Beirut, headed by Al Huss, the other, exclusively Christian, in East Beirut, led by the Maronite Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Gen Michel Aoun.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Library of Congress
