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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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American
Lebanese Foundation