Lebanon's parliament elects US-backed army chief as head of state after 12 failed attempts

euronews (in English)

Following tense scenes early in the session, the first round of Thursday's vote concluded with 71 votes for Joseph Aoun, the widely supported army commander.

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00:00Lebanon's parliament has elected army commander Joseph Aoun as president, breaking a two-year

00:06deadlock.

00:07Aoun's emergence came after parliament held the two rounds of voting session to elect

00:12the country's president on Thursday.

00:14In the first rounds, the Lebanese army commander secured 71 out of 128 votes and fell short

00:21of the two-thirds majority required for an outright win.

00:25The vote, which saw all 128 members of the legislature present, took place amid chaotic

00:31scenes early in the session, with lawmakers shouting over one another.

00:37Aoun is considered to be the preferred candidate of Lebanon's key allies, the United States

00:42and Saudi Arabia.

00:44He now faces a daunting task of governing an overwhelmed nation, first by maintaining

00:50the ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hezbollah and working to revive an ailing

00:56economy that has decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese.

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