Who is Joseph Aoun?/ The undisputed military commander who became president with the consensus of the Lebanese representatives

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): Joseph Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese army, succeeded in obtaining the necessary quorum to take over the presidency of this country after 2 years.

 

Joseph Aoun, the commander of the Lebanese army, was one of the leading candidates for the presidency of this country, whose name was mentioned from the beginning along with Suleiman Franjieh. Unlike Suleiman Franjieh, Aoun never openly declared his desire to run for the presidency.

 

As it can be seen from the positions of the American ambassador and the diplomats of this country, the Americans supported Aoun to reach the position of the president of Lebanon.

 

At the domestic level, both the Progressive Socialist Party and the Democratic Meeting faction led by Timur Jumblatt supported Aoun. The National Free Movement, led by Gibran Bassil, was against the election of Joseph Aoun, but although Hezbollah did not support him, it announced through its representatives that it does not veto the army commander's candidacy for the presidency.

 

General Aoun was born in 1964 in the town of Alin in northern Lebanon. He was born in a normal Lebanese family and after completing primary and secondary education, he entered the military university of this country. General Aoun has completed specialized military courses inside and outside of Lebanon, including in America and France. Joseph Aoun joined the Lebanese army in 1983, and with his special skills, he assumed responsibilities in the important units of this army, and he has always been the commander of various army units, until he officially became the commander of the army in 2017.

 

Although Aoun is under the support of the United States and the reason for this is the dependence of the Lebanese army on the United States, he has always acted in a neutral and professional manner in various issues and despite the numerous movements that some parties inside and outside Lebanon have made to incite the army against the resistance. They had, but General Aoun has never taken a step in the direction of opposing Hezbollah, and the positions he has adopted towards the resistance have been professional and logical. Even during the new war with the Zionist regime, Aoun did not accept any action against the path of resistance and emphasized on harmony with it.

 

Because of this impartiality and transparency in the administration of the army, as well as the effort to maintain the unity of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun is considered one of the popular and outstanding figures of this country; Especially, Hezbollah emphasized that it has no opposition to General Aoun.

 

Joseph Aoun said in a rare interview in 2016 with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hezbollah, that he would limit "political interference" in the army. He did not speak in any public forum about his candidacy for the presidency, nor did he turn to Lebanon's divided political factions for support.

 

Lebanon's new president is now faced with an agreement between Hezbollah and Israel that relies on an unstable ceasefire, and it remains to be seen how he will implement the clauses agreed between Israel and Lebanon. An agreement that seeks to identify only the military as a force authorized to access weapons. At the same time, the financial crisis and the economic stagnation of Lebanon will be another big problem for him in the post of president of this country, which he has to deal with.