Michel Aoun

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Michel Aoun (ميشال عون) (born in 1935 in Beirut) is a Lebanese military commander and politician. From September 22, 1988 to October 13, 1990, he served as Prime Minister of the transition government appointed at the end of the mandate of President Amine Gemayel. He was elected to the Lebanese parliament in 2005 when he returned to Lebanon on May 7 of that year from exile in France, Derhally, Massoud A. ["The General"], Arabian Business Magazine, June 12, 2005 eleven days after the Syrian troops' withdrawal that ended 29 years of occupation. Gambill, Gary C. "The Syrian Occupation of Lebanon", The Middle East Forum, May 13, 2003

Known as "The General," Aoun currently leads the "Free Patriotic Movement" party and the "Change and Reform" parliamentary block.

Contents

1 Background and early career
2 Transition government
3 Exile in France
4 Return to Lebanon
5 Political strategy
6 Notes
7 References
8 Further reading

Background and early career

A Christian Maronite, Michel Aoun was born to a poor family in the mixed Christian and Muslim suburb of Haret Hreik, in the southern outskirts of Beirut. Aoun recalled having close friendships with many Muslims during his early years. "We never distinguished between Ali and Pierre, or between Hassan and Georges," he later said. "We ate together and slept at each other's homes." Pierre Raffoul, The Betrayal of Lebanon (Lebanese Coordination Bureau of Victoria, October 2000), p. 1-2.'' He finished his secondary education at the College Des Frères in 1956 and enrolled in the Military Academy as a cadet officer. Three years later, he graduated as an artillery officer in the Lebanese Army. He later received additional training at Chalon-Sur-Marne, France (1958-1959), Fort Sill, Oklahoma in the U.S. (1966) and the École Supérieure de Guerre, France (1978-1980).

In June 1984, Aoun was chosen to be commander of the Lebanese army. During the Lebanese civil war, Aoun managed to establish the 8th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, which was multi-confessional.

Transition government

On September 22, 1988, the outgoing President Amine Gemayel appointed Michel Aoun prime minister until new elections could be held. This was in violation of the National Pact that requires the prime minister to be a Sunni Muslim. However, Amine Gemayel defended his action by referring to the historical precedent of 1952, when General Fouad Chehab, a Christian Maronite, was appointed as prime minister of a transition government following the resignation of President Beshara El-Khoury.

Backed by Syria, the former prime minister, Selim Al-Hoss, declared his dismissal invalid. Two Lebanese governments were formed: a military one under Aoun in East Beirut and a civilian one under Al-Hoss based in West Beirut. Aoun controlled parts of East Beirut and some neighboring suburbs. In the spring of 1989, he asked the Lebanese army to wrest control of ports held by the militias, as they were used for smuggling and were preventing the legitimate government from raising customs revenues.

In order to extend the Lebanese sovereignty on all the national territory and to be able to hold free presidential elections, Aoun declared what he called a "Liberation War" on Syria on March 14, 1989 (sixteen years before the March 14 Cedar Revolution that caused the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon). Over the following few months, Aoun’s army and the Syrians exchanged artillery fire in Beirut, which cost the lives of many civilians as well as an estimated 1,000 soldiers on both sides.

In October 1989, parliamentary members of the Lebanese National Assembly met to draw up the Taif Accord in an attempt to settle the Lebanese conflict. Aoun opposed the Taif Accord because it did not set a clear timeline for the complete withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. As a result of the Taif Accord, the National Assembly met to elect René Moawad as President in November. His presidency lasted 17 days before he was assassinated. Elias Hrawi was elected in his place. Hrawi appointed General Émile Lahoud as commander of the Army and ordered Aoun out of the presidential palace. Aoun entered into a conflict with the Lebanese Forces Christian militia that decided to support the Taif Accord, recognize the presidency of Elias Hrawi, and challenge prime minister Aoun's legitimacy.

Exile in France

After Saddam Hussein launched his invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, a coalition was lead by the United States to free the occupied country. The U.S. asked for the support of Arab countries in its war efforts. Syria's President Hafez Assad sided with the U.S., in return for which the Americans agreed to support Syrian interests in Lebanon. On October 13 that year, Syrian forces attacked the presidential palace in Baabda after Israel suspended restrictions on Syrian flights over Lebanon. In order to limit casualties, Aoun surrendered and fled to the French ambassador's residence. Ten months later, he went into exile in France.

In exile, Aoun established the Free Patriotic Movement. He boycotted the parliamentary elections that took place from 1992 until 2000, because they were organized under the Syrian occupation. After the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, the opposition to the Syrian presence began to intensify. Aoun decided to participate in the electoral process, in coordination with political parties opposed to Syria. During the partial parliamentary elections of 2003, an avowed Aounist candidate, Hikmat Deeb, came close to winning a key by-election in the Baabda-Aley constituency, although most political forces supported the government candidate, Henry Hélou.

Return to Lebanon

Aoun ended 15 years of exile and returned to his homeland on May 7, 2005, a few days after the Syrian withdrawal. Joined by his family, including his grandchildren and his brother whom he had not seen for 15 years, he held a short press conference at Beirut International Airport before heading with a convoy of loyalists and journalists to the "Memorial of the Unknown Soldiers". After praying and expressing his gratitude and blessing to the people, he went on to the mausoleum of former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated on February 14, 2005, to pay his respects there. His journey continued to the Martyrs' Square (unofficially renamed Freedom Square) where he was greeted by substantial numbers of Lebanese supporters from all confessions.

Since his arrival, Aoun has moved into a new residence in Lebanon's Rabieh district, where he was visited on May 8, 2005 by a large delegation from the Lebanese Forces (LF), who were among Aoun's former enemies. Aoun and Sitrida Geagea, wife of the imprisoned LF leader Samir Geagea (since released), publicly reconciled. Aoun later visited Geagea in prison (he was the first of all opposition leaders to do so), and asked for his release.

In the parliamentary election at the end of May 2005, after being isolated and opposed by the March 14th coalition, Aoun surprised many observers by undertaking electoral coalitions with a number of erstwhile opponents, including some staunchly pro-Syrian politicians. In fact, Aoun believed that pro- and anti-Syrian categorizations were no longer relevant, now that Syrian troops have left Lebanon. He positioned his electoral campaign around national values such as fighting corruption, transcending confessionalism and building a modern state.

In the third round of the elections, Aoun's party, the Free Patriotic Movement won 21 of the 58 seats contested in that round, including almost all of the seats in the Christian heartland of Mount-Lebanon. Aoun himself was elected to the National Assembly. In the fourth and final round, however, the Free Patriotic Movement failed to win any seat in Northern Lebanon, although gaining most of the Christian votes there.

Political strategy

Already before the 2005 elections, Aoun was excluded from the March 14th coalition, now known as the February 14th coalition, comprised of the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Forces. The February 14th coalition, led by Saad Hariri, did not show honest intentions for a real political participation of all the Lebanese factions , and as such, joined the pro-Syrian still in power at the time, to keep the electoral law of the year 2000, implemented by Syrian intelligence chief Ghazi Kanaan. This electoral law did not provide for a real popular representation, and marginalized many communities throughout the country.

Aoun lead the opposition against the government dominated by the February 14th coalition. He criticized the government's attempt to paralyze the Constitutional Council since the caretaking body was expected to investigate irregularities committed by the February 14th coalition during the 2005 parliamentary elections.

Aoun signed a Memorandum of understanding with the Hezbollah on February 6, 2006. This historical document allowed bridging the gap between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah. Aoun argued that the February 14th coalition was making a political mistake by trying to isolate Hezbollah. In fact, some Lebanese history analysts argue that the isolation of the Kataeb party was one of the reasons behind the Lebanese civil war in 1975.

Like all politicians, Aoun promotes national dialogue as the only way to overcome differences and achieve peaceful resolution of conflicts between the Lebanese parties. Before his return to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, Aoun launched the idea of organizing a National Dialogue Conference with representatives from all parties. He delegated a commission that visited the different Lebanese leaders for that purpose. His efforts finally succeeded on March 2, 2006, when the Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri invited 14 representatives of Lebanon's main political parties and religious communities to meet in the National Assembly in order to settle differences and set a strategy for the future.

Aoun's platform is a liberal, secular one. He has said: "We want to create a secular culture with the people so that the population begins to demand it and be able to confront religious authorities that refuse it." He argues in favor of allowing civil marriage, empowering women, changing the citizenship laws, establishing a system of corporate governance, and having external auditors help to control the debt burden.

Notes

References

Derhally, Massoud A. ["The General"] Arabian Business Magazine, June 12, 2005