(10 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beurit, Lebanon – 9 January 2025
1. Joseph Aoun, newly elected Lebanese President, leaving parliament
2. Various of Aoun on red carpet, being greeted by presidential honour guards
3. Aoun’s convoy leaving parliament
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nadim Gemayel, Kataeb party lawmaker:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON SHOT1 AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT 2-3&5 AND PARTIALLY SHOT 6++
“The feeling today is good; we now have a president, a head of state. Hopefully, we can all work together to build a new future for Lebanon—one based on freedom, peace, stability, and the roadmap outlined by the new president today in the heart of Parliament. I believe this is a fundamental step, and most importantly is avoiding the use of previous terminology related to resistance, defense strategies, and the like. I think this marks a new beginning for a new future."
5. Various of traffic, poster of Aoun in background
6. Lebanese flag
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aichiye, Jezzine, Southern Lebanon, Lebanon – 9 January 2025
7. Various of Aichiye village in Southern Lebanon with villagers hanging banners and posters of the newly elected President Joseph Aoun
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) May Youssef Aoun, resident:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT ++
“Words are truly few; we no longer know what to say. But our joy today is indescribable. No matter what we say, it won’t be enough. This is the village of the leader, the village of the president, the village of all of Lebanon.”
9. Villagers hanging banners and posters of the newly elected President Joseph Aoun
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Claire Aoun, resident:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT11 ++
“We are currently living in very difficult times, and he is the right person for this challenging period. May God guide and support him, and may he rebuild this entire nation for us. He has already proven his competence in the military institution, and this will not be difficult for him at all.”
11. Various of residents celebrating
STORYLINE:
Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect army commander Joseph Aoun as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.
"Hopefully, we can all work together to build a new future for Lebanon—one based on freedom, peace, stability, and the roadmap outlined by the new president today in the heart of Parliament," said Nadim Gemayel, a Kataeb party lawmaker.
It was the legislature’s 13th attempt to elect a successor to former President Michel Aoun — no relation to the army commander — whose term ended in October 2022.
Aoun is widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia, whose assistance Lebanon will need as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-month conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Some residents expressed satisfaction that lawmakers had overcome the political deadlock.
"The important thing is that they all came to an agreement," said Maram Al Khalil, adding that she hoped he would now "work on rebuilding for us."
The next government will face daunting challenges apart from implementing the ceasefire agreement that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war and seeking funds for reconstruction.
Lebanon is in its sixth year of an economic and financial crisis that decimated the country’s currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese.
The cash-strapped state electricity company provides only a few hours of power a day.
AP Video by Fadi Tawil, Mahmad Aounti and Zakaria El Khatib
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