Lebanon (MNN) — Lebanese are confident that a new chapter is beginning as they celebrate the election of Joseph Aoun, commander of the country’s army. His victory comes six weeks after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah dealt a hefty blow to Hezbollah’s weakening grip on the country’s political direction.
Aoun’s candidacy was backed by the US, France, and Saudi Arabia. He secured a win despite Hezbollah’s attempts to maintain power. Pierre Houssney with Horizons International says Aoun is already a well known and loved leader in Lebanon.
“He is the man who seems financially to have more integrity than any other leader that we’ve had in present history.”
For more than two years, Lebanon has operated without a head of state. The previous president, who shares Aoun’s last name but is of no relation, was instated by Hezbollah and widely viewed as a puppet leader. Aoun’s victory was a landslide: he won by 99 votes in the 128-seat parliament.
Houssney says the Lebanese government is ethnically structured to ensure equal representation by Christians and Muslims. The prime minister is always a Sunni Muslim, the speaker of the parliament is always a Shiite, and the president is always a Maronite Christian.
“So when we don’t have a president in office, that means we don’t have a Christian who is leading our government,” Houssney says.
Since the country’s civil war in the 1970s, various ethnic fiefdoms have sought power in Lebanon.
“The good thing about the new president is that he does not belong to any of those political parties,” Houssney says.
What’s more, Aoun intends to reclaim Hezbollah’s remaining military power, most of which has dried up with the fall of the Assad regime and its arms supply from Iran.
“He wants to enact a state in the country where the Lebanese army monopolizes the bearing of military grade arms,” Houssney says.
Across ethnic and religious lines, Houssney says there is great rejoicing and a sense that oppression has been lifted.
“There is an unprecedented amount of hope,” he says. “It’s been beyond our dreams, honestly, and right now we’re hesitantly waiting to see whether the new order in Syria is going to be positive, and whether we’re going to see real, sustainable change happen in Lebanon.”
Spiritually, Houssney says the present situation comes with wide open doors.
“As the smoke has cleared after this big war of the fall, we’ve actually found our church partners are more connected into the communities of non-believers,” he says.
Houssney acknowledges that each of the past few years have come with renewed drama and crises for Lebanon. While Aoun’s election may represent a new direction, Houssney’s hope and focus remain elsewhere.
“Whether it’s a good thing that happens in our country or more bad things, our prayer as a ministry is that the spiritual open door would remain open so that people would come to Christ.”
Featured image courtesy of Mohamad Mekawi via Pexels
