Constitutionally (de jure), the president's post carries significant responsibilities and influence. In practice, the president is largely a ceremonial and symbolic post due to external pressure or the formation of "consensus" cabinets, forcing the president to compromise. In theory, however, the president is responsible for appointing the entire government, therefore the ministers should work to his pleasure. Nevertheless, the president is still able to exercise influence on policy-making and has the role, in conjunction with the prime minister, of choosing ministers in the Government and safeguarding the Constitution of Lebanon.
National Pact
Though it is not specifically stated in the constitution, an unwritten understanding known as the National Pact, agreed in 1943, has resulted in the holder of the post being a Maronite Christian in every electoral cycle since that time.
List of officeholders
State of Greater Lebanon, part of the French Mandate (1926–1943)
During the period of the French mandate in Lebanon, he was appointed minister of justice, then president of the National Assembly, and finally first president of Lebanon. He was elected president in 1926, then re-elected in 1929 by 42 votes out of 44. He was kept at his post until January 1934 by the French mandate. Under his presidency, the disarmament of Greater Lebanon was decided, and he instituted the compulsory baccalaureate for the exercise of liberal professions. He was also minister of justice and president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1934.
Trad was elected deputy from Beirut in 1925 serving in the Lebanese Parliament for much of the 1920s and 1930s, either elected or appointed by the French authorities. He was a member of the parliamentary committee that worked on the French-Lebanese Treaty of 1936. The French supported him as the speaker of the Parliament from November 1934 to October 1935 and from October 1937 to September 1939.
Served as prime minister from 1927 until 1928 and again in 1929 prior to his election as president on 21 September 1943. He was a strong nationalist who opposed the French Mandate, and on 11 November 1943, he was arrested by Free French troops and imprisoned in the Rashaya Tower for eleven days along with other prominent politicians.
The high commissioner installed Eddé as president. Ten days later, however, under pressure from France's other allies in World War II, the French removed Eddé from office and restored the government of Bechara El Khoury on 21 November. He founded the National Bloc.
Chehab refused to allow the army to interfere in the uprising that forced Lebanese President Bechara El Khoury to resign. Chehab became the prime minister of Lebanon in September 1952 and held the additional portfolio of defense minister while also forming a military cabinet. Chehab was then appointed acting president with the duty to ensure an emergency democratic presidential election.
Served as minister of the interior, post, and telegraph (1943–1944) and minister of the interior, health, and public aid (1947–1948). Near the end of his term, Pan-Arabists and other groups backed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, with considerable support in Lebanon's Muslim community attempted to overthrow Chamoun's government in June 1958 after Chamoun tried to seek another term as president against the constitution. Numerous clashes erupted, resulting in 1958 Lebanon crisis.
Chehab was the prime minister of Lebanon in September 1952, and held the additional portfolio of defense minister while also forming a military cabinet. Chehab was appointed acting president with the duty to ensure an emergency democratic presidential election. 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 2 other presidents.
Helou served as ambassador to the Vatican in 1947, minister of justice and health (1954–1955), and minister of education (1964). The Six-Day War of 1967 strained sectarian relations in Lebanon. Many Muslims 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 major coalitions, one pro-Arab nationalism, led by Rashid Karami; and the other pro-Western, led jointly by former Presidents Camille Chamoun, Pierre Gemayel, and Raymond Eddé, both made major gains and won 30 of the 99 seats each.
Frangieh formed and headed the Marada Movement. In the closest and possibly most controversial presidential election in Lebanese history, the National Assembly elected Frangieh to the Presidency of the Republic on 23 September 1970. He oversaw the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War in the fifth year of his tenure.
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 as Syria 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, and parliamentary democracy, rejecting the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.
Was elected during the peak of the Lebanese Civil War. Soon after his election, fighters from the Lebanese Forces were prohibited from wearing their uniforms and also from carrying their weapons in the streets. He notably had close relations with Israel, which led to his assassination in an explosion that killed more than thirty people by SSNP member Habib Shartouni. He was assassinated before officially taking office.
He left his post in the Kataeb Party after being elected president. Once elected, he refused to meet any Israeli official. With foreign armies occupying two-thirds of the country (Syria in the north and east, Israel in the south) and private armies independent of government control occupying most of the rest, Gemayel's government lacked any power. He re-organized the Lebanese Army, receiving support from the Multinational Force in Lebanon, and reached the May 17 Agreement with Israel in 1983 despite fierce internal opposition, which stipulated the withdrawal of the Israeli forces and the end of the state of war between the two countries, but did not ratify it.
Gemayel decided to appoint Maronite army commander Michel Aoun to the office, notwithstanding the tradition of reserving it for a Sunni Muslim. Hoss refused to concede the prime minister's post to Aoun, so the two ended up heading rival administrations, with Aoun occupying the presidential palace at Baabda and Hoss establishing his own office in Muslim-dominated West Beirut.
The outgoing president Amine Gemayel appointed Aoun as prime minister, heading a military government formed by six members of the Martial Court, three of which are Christian and three Muslim. He also dismissed the civilian administration of acting Prime Minister Selim Hoss. The Muslims refused to serve and submitted their resignations on the next day. He controlled his own military faction, which was heavily based in East Beirut.
Moawad served as the minister of posts and telecommunications (1961–1964), minister of public works (1969), and minister of national education and fine arts (1980–1982). His presidency was disputed by military general Michel Aoun. Seventeen days after being elected, as he was returning from Lebanon's Independence Day celebrations, a 250kg car bomb was detonated next to Moawad's motorcade in West Beirut, killing him and 23 others.[2][3]
Hrawi served as minister of public works and was a member of the independent Maronite Catholic bloc in the Parliament. Hrawi was elected at the Park Hotel in Chtoura by 47 out of 53 members of two days after the murder of Lebanese President René Mouawad.[4][5] As president, Hrawi signed into law amendments to the constitution that formalized the Taif Agreement reforms. He saw the end of the Lebanese Civil War. He signed the treaty of fraternity, co-ordination, and co-operation with Syria, in which Lebanon promised not to allow its territory to be used against Syria's interests.[6]
Lahoud 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 by Syria.[7] When he became president in 1998, he aligned himself with Hezbollah and picked his own man as prime minister, Selim Hoss.[8] This led to heightened tensions between Rafiq Hariri and Lahoud.[9] During his term, he exerted more control over government decision-making than Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri or Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.[10] In August 2001, he modified the limits on the executive authority of the presidency stipulated in the 1989 Ta'if Accord and ordered security forces to launch a massive arrest sweep against nationalist dissidents without informing Hariri and other cabinet ministers.[10]
Suleiman was the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (1998–2008). Lebanese political spectrum was deeply polarized, with virtually all parties being divided, either in the government loyalists or the opposition, which paved way for the non-partisan Michel Suleiman to be elected by parliament. Suleiman launched the table of national dialogue at the Presidential Palace in Baabda on 16 September 2008, in pursuance of the Doha Agreement's articles and in view of consolidating National Reconciliation and Entente.
Aoun was the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (1984–1989), held a disputed military presidency and premiership (1988–1990) and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement. From the expiration of the term of President Michel Suleiman on 25 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, the parliament finally elected Michel Aoun as president after an agreement was signed between the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil, and the leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea[13] at the latter's headquarters in Maarab, which required Samir Geagea, who had withdrawn from the presidential race, to endorse Michel Aoun's candidacy for the 2016 presidential election, years after a long rivalry that went back to the Lebanese Civil War.
Aoun was previously a commander in the Lebanese Commando Regiment, head of the 9th Infantry Brigade, and commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. From the expiration of the term of President Michel Aoun on 31 October 2022 until 9 January 2025, parliament were unable to obtain a majority required in electing a president, leaving the office vacant for two and a half years. Aoun was eventually elected after foreign mediation led by Saudi Arabia.
Émile Jamil Lahoud is a Lebanese politician who served as the 11th president of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007. During his presidency, the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, that had lasted since 1982, ended in May 2000. He downplayed sectarianism and rearmed the Lebanese army, with help from Syria. Lahoud was closely allied to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and was seen as playing a key role in preserving the occupation.
Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004.
Elias Hrawi was a Lebanese politician who served as the 10th president of Lebanon from 1989 to 1998.
The Taif Agreement, officially known as the National Reconciliation Accord, was reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon". Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the 15 year-long Lebanese Civil War, and reassert the Lebanese government's authority in southern Lebanon, which was controlled at the time by the Christian-separatist South Lebanon Army under the occupational hegemony of Israel. Though the agreement set a time frame for withdrawal of Syrian military forces from Lebanon, stipulating that the Syrian occupation end within two years, Syria did not withdraw its forces from the country until 2005. It was signed on 22 October 1989 and ratified by the Lebanese parliament on 5 November, 1989.
Michel Naim Aoun is a Lebanese politician and former general who served as the 13th president of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 to 30 October 2022.
Salim Ahmad al-Huss, also spelled Selim El-Hoss, was a Lebanese politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon and a longtime Member of Parliament representing his hometown, Beirut. He was known as a technocrat.
The presidentof the Lebanese Republic is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliament for a term of six years, which cannot be renewed immediately because they can only be renewed non-consecutively. By convention, the president is always a Maronite Christian who fulfills the same requirements as a candidate for the house of representatives, as per article 49 of the Lebanese constitution.
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The 2006–2008 Lebanese protests were a series of political protests and sit-ins in Lebanon that began on 1 December 2006, led by groups that opposed the US and Saudi-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and ended on 21 May 2008 with the signing of the Doha Agreement. The opposition was made up of Hezbollah, Amal, and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM); a number of smaller parties were also involved, including the Marada party, the Lebanese Communist Party and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. A majority of the members of the government were part of the anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance, a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon. The two groups were also divided along religious lines, with most Sunnis and Druze supporting the government, and most Shi'a supporting the opposition. The Christian community was split between the two factions, with Michel Aoun, the leader of the FPM, claiming to have more than 70% support among the Christians, based on the results of the 2005 parliamentary election.
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Najib Azmi Mikati is a Lebanese politician and businessman who has served as the 52nd prime minister of Lebanon since September 2021, previously serving in this post as the 48th and 45th prime minister from 2011 to 2014 and in 2005. He previously also served as the Minister of Public Works and Transport from December 1998 to 2003.
Jamil Al Sayyed is a Lebanese politician and a current Member of the Parliament of Lebanon. He is the former head of Lebanon's Sureté Générale or Lebanese General Security Directorate. He was detained and released after four years, from 2005 to 2009 according to a law he drafted himself, due to his alleged involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Salim Jreissati is a lawyer and politician. He served as Lebanon's minister of labor between 2012 and February 2014. From 18 December 2016 to 31 January 2019 he was the minister of justice. On 31 January 2019 he was named state minister for presidential affairs which he held until January 2020.
Farès Boueiz is a Lebanese jurist who served as a foreign minister for two terms as well as an environment minister.
The following lists events that happened in 2007 in Lebanon.
The Second Republic is Lebanon's current republican system of government. It was established on 22 October 1989 by Lebanese political leaders and business people under the Taif Agreement.
The Council of Ministers of Lebanon is the executive body of the Republic of Lebanon. Its president is the Prime Minister of Lebanon, and it is appointed by the President of Lebanon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon. The appointed government also has to pass a confidence vote in the Parliament of Lebanon. As stipulated in Article 95 of the Lebanese constitution, there are two requirements for the council of ministers to be considered constitutional:
↑ Jaber, Ali (23 November 1989). "Lebanon's president killed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 November 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
↑ "Emile Lahoud". Lebanon Today. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
↑ Bosco, Robert M. (2009). "The Assassination of Rafik Hariri: Foreign Policy Perspectives". International Political Science Review. 30 (4): 349–363. doi:10.1177/0192512109342521. S2CID144463265.
1 2 Gambill, Gary C.; Ziad K. Abdelnour; Bassam Endrawos (November 2011). "Emile Lahoud President of Lebanon". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 3 (11). Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
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