The fourth president needs to amend the Lebanese constitution

Dr. Muhammad Dabasha
Member of the Egyptian Writers Union

Two years of political stagnation until Lebanon deteriorated politically and economically. A few days ago, the majority of Lebanese political forces agreed on the name of the current army commander, Joseph Aoun, to be the president of the Republic of Lebanon, succeeding General Michel Aoun, whose term ended on October 30, 2022.
As meetings and consultations between political forces intensified during the last hours of the voting session with the aim of reaching a consensus on the army commander in response to external pressures to fill the presidential vacuum, in a country with multiple sects and parties whose parliament does not include a clear majority and in which the president generally arrives by political settlements.
Joseph Aoun's name has emerged in recent days as the most likely candidate, and he has the approval of external parties, such as the United States, Saudi Arabia and France.
During a session held in the House of Representatives on Thursday 9/1/2025, in the second round of voting, all 128 members of parliament attended, and Joseph Aoun received 99 votes, making him the fourth president of Lebanon, and he must move from the position of army commander to the presidency of the state.
Aoun received 99 votes in the second round of voting, during a session held by the Lebanese House of Representatives today, Thursday, attended by all 128 members of parliament.
Thus, Joseph Aoun is the fourth president of Lebanon to move from the position of army commander directly to the presidency of the republic.
While many countries welcomed this choice, the Lebanese constitution prevents a first-class public employee from assuming the presidency of the country unless his service ends or he submits his resignation and two years have passed since he left the job, and Joseph Aoun does not meet the two-year condition, so he needs a constitutional amendment in order to be president of Lebanon.
On the other hand, political analyst Bishara Khairallah points out that the Lebanese electoral system prevents first-class state employees from running for office without a constitutional amendment, which requires the approval of two-thirds of the members of the parliament, i.e. 86 deputies out of 128.