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THE NEW ATMOSHERE OF HOPE, UNITY AND PEACE FOR LEBANON
02/13/2025

The American Lebanese Foundation (ALF) is thrilled and relieved by the election of General Joseph Aoun to the presidency of Lebanon and the nomination of Judge Nawaf Salam for the new prime minister position. After President Michel Aoun completed his term as president in 2022, most expatriate Lebanese, including most of ALF members and supporters, felt it was time for the election of a civilian president, because they felt that the election of three previous generals never met the expectations that resulted from the success of General Fouad Chebab who was elected in the fifties.  Also, many ascribed to those three previous presidents, various degrees of responsibility for the economic and banking collapse which peaked during the term of General Michel Aoun.

After the onset of the Hezbollah war with Israel and its resulting damages and security risks, it became clear to us that General Joseph Aoun was the ideal candidate for the presidency, considering that he was able to keep the Lebanese army unified and efficient under the most difficult conditions possible. Luckily the group of Five States, Important Friends of Lebanon supported, and the Parliament gave him the majority needed for his democratic election to the Presidency. The nomination of another new name in politics for the position of prime minister Judge Nawaf Salam, who was also famous for integrity and competence, added further hope and expectations that the Lebanese crisis has really started towards a prompt and gradual solution.

The newly elected president made an exceptionally intelligent and reassuring acceptance speech. He clearly stated his plans to recover the full authority and responsibility of the Lebanese State and reserved for it the exclusivity of possession and controlling significant armaments, necessary for protection of the Lebanese people and the boundaries of the State. He also promised all efforts to protect the unity of the Lebanese people with the same spirit of integrity and responsibility which he displayed as army commander.

   
The newly nominated prime minister established extremely reassuring criteria for the selection of the new ministers. He made us extremely happy at ALF by starting with the separation of ministerial jobs from parliamentary positions, a principle we at ALF proposed to facilitate reforms, about two decades ago.  Some previous prime ministers and presidents talked of adoption of the principle of such separation but unfortunately abandoned it partially or completely to serve family or party interests and to satisfy the terrible “mouhasasa.” approach. We salute Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and President Joseph Aoun for fully respecting these principles and for avoiding party quotas while respecting the confessional distributions rigidly implemented in Lebanon since independence.

ALF hopes that the ministerial official statement will stress and emphasize the reassuring statements and plans expressed in the presidential acceptance speech. Also, ALF suggests that the cabinet considers a point that appeared after the President gave his acceptance speech. Now if President Trump who has displayed friendship and support to Lebanon and its new government succeeds in finding a final consensual, safe and comfortable home for the Gaza Palestinians in neighboring Arab lands, he should be asked to take equal care of the Palestinians in Lebanon who have suffered more and longer than those in Gaza.

Either way the new regime in Lebanon should count on very strong support inside Lebanon and among the expatriate communities.




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Last modified: 02/13/2025.