Hezbollah’s sudden endorsement of Aoun’s election is a political victory

BEIRUT – In the second round on Thursday, Hezbollah and the Amal Movement decided to back electing Joseph Aoun as Lebanon’s president, ending the two-year presidential impasse. 

The resounding message that the “Shiite duo” intended to convoy is that the decisive choice in completing the numerical and political quorum mainly lies at the hands of the resistance movement, and the president cannot be elected without them, as Samir Geagea intended and even publicly declared in an interview during the Israeli large-scale war on Lebanon during September and November in 2024.

Reluctantly, the “Shiite duo” succumbed to the unprecedented foreign pressure, nevertheless asserting its powerful presence in Lebanon’s political arena. Actually, the due gave priority to Lebanon’s supreme interests and national harmony.

Mohammed Raad, head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, saluted “the resistance’s martyrs who have protected the country so that the session could be held, and to achieve national accord in this difficult period. By delaying our vote for His Excellency the President, we wanted to convoy a message that we are the guarantors of the national accord.”

The consensus had been achieved before the second round of election, during a meeting Mohammad Raad and Ali Hassan Khalil held with Joseph Aoun, who allayed the Shiite duo’s military, security and political concerns.

The understanding focused on the responsibilities of the new era, especially reconstruction, forming a national government and preserving the achievements of the resistance movement.

Joseph Aoun has pledged to rebuild what the Israeli enemy has destroyed, assuring, “Our martyrs are the spirit of our determination and our prisoners are a trust in our necks.”

The voting session was attended by the quintet committee’s representatives seemingly to supervise the commitment of their stooges (pro-US MPs). They, in parallel, witnessed a shameful chorus of insults that reflected those MPs’ moral and national downfall.

Those were not satisfied with just pessimism, buffoonery and useless interventions, but they also blatantly posted pictures of their ballot papers on X to confirm that they are obedient boys to their strict “mom” in Washington.

In contrast, a section of nationalist MPs underscored their keenness on the constitutionality of the election and their firm rejection of foreign ambassadors and envoys’ dictates. 

Osama Saad asked his fellow MPs: “Does one of those [ambassadors and envoys] dare to violate their countries’ constitution? Why us?”

Saad stated the US “deceptive” diplomacy” has “killed many Lebanese and destroyed many of their houses” to impose Aoun as the president, stressing that the Lebanese have had enough of “Israeli criminality and US deception.”

Addressed the ambassadors, MP Halima Kaakour also called on foreign envoys not to intervene in Lebanon’s affairs and sovereignty, stressing her rejection of all dictates “whether American or Iranian.”

Meanwhile, Amos Hochstein, the US presidential envoy to West Asia, has claimed that Aoun’s election is “a step towards peace and stability in Lebanon.” Ursula Gertrude von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has also deemed it as a “ray of hope” for Lebanon.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, has also stressed the need to speed up the formation of a new cabinet “as the tasks placed on the shoulders of the Lebanese state are extremely huge and cannot tolerate any more wasting of time.”

For its part, the Iranian embassy in Beirut has expressed its congratulations to “brotherly Lebanon on the election of General Joseph Aoun as President of the Republic in an atmosphere of comprehensive consensus.”