Reactions are pouring in following the election of General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic on Thursday.
Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, expressed his congratulations to Aoun on behalf of “the Lebanese nation and the Lebanese people,” underlining the critical circumstances that Lebanon is witnessing, particularly in the south.
“Lebanon needs everything, the South needs everything, and we are all waiting for the new mandate,” he said, adding, “I congratulate you, Mr. President.”
Caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, also expressed his congratulations, describing Aoun as “the leader of the state-building process.”
For his part, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri extended his congratulations on X platform, saying, “Congratulations to Lebanon, the state, and the people, for the election of General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic.” According to him, this election revives “hope to restore life to constitutional institutions to confront the many difficult challenges of these times.”
Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Georges Adwan stated that “all Lebanese must rally around the president of the Republic, including Hezbollah,” which, according to Adwan, should return to its political role.
“We are turning a page in Lebanon's history, and President Joseph Aoun is opening a new one with clear commitments,” he added. “He has pledged to the Lebanese people that the state will impose its authority and that no weapons will exist except those of legitimacy and the army.”
“The LF saw in the president's speech everything it had been calling for and striving to achieve,” Adwan concluded.
MP Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, explained that by delaying their vote for Aoun, Hezbollah MPs sought to send a message, namely, that “they are the guardians of national consensus in the country.”
MP Nadim Gemayel commented on the new president's speech on his X account, describing it as “a roadmap for a new Lebanon, one free of militia weapons and terrorism, a strong state through its institutions and judiciary, and the end of occupations.”
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