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The parliament of Lebanon elected army chief Michel Suleiman as the President of the country on Sunday, May 25, 2008. By appointing Suleiman as the head of the state, the country revived paralyzed state institutions after an eighteen month standoff between an American backed government and the Hezbollah led opposition. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri declared on Sunday that Suleiman, the sole candidate, had won by securing 118 votes in the 128 member assembly.
The election was part of an agreement brokered by Qatar last week to defuse a crisis that had pushed Lebanon to the brink of civil war, with Hezbollah briefly seizing parts of Beirut. The US which had always pressed for disarming Hezbollah, received a set back after the Doha deal. None the less US President George W Bush congratulated Suleiman on his election and remarked that he is hopeful that the Doha agreement will usher in an era of political reconciliation, to the benefit of the Lebanese.
Lebanon has had no President since November. Michel Suleiman, 59, took the office of President after the vote while making a speech reflective of his objective for the six year term. The newly elected President pressed for a ‘calm dialogue’ on national defense strategy that would draw on the ‘capacities of resistance’, probably suggesting an eventual integration of Hezbollah’s guerillas into Lebanese security forces. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped Suleiman’s election would presage the revitalization of all Lebanon’s constitutional institutions and return to dialogue.
