HRW: Lebanon new president should prioritize judicial independence, accountability and transparency – JURIST

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday urged the new Lebanon President Joseph Aoun to ensure judicial independence, accountability and government transparency, adding that his election ends a two-year political crisis which had caused a governance vacuum in the country.

HRW emphasized that Aoun needs to adopt a law on judicial independence “that meets international standards, greater government transparency, and an end to corruption practices that have hallowed out the country’s public institutions.” The group added that ending corruption practices requires accountability for the 2020 Beirut port explosions and the war crimes committed during the 2024 hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

HRW noted that Aoun’s election is controversial as it possibly violates Article 49 of Lebanon’s Constitution, which prohibits any individual who holds a public office, including a member of Parliament or the government, from being elected as the president.

After former president Michel Aoun ended his term of office on October 31, 2022, the country’s parliament failed to elect a new president because the ruling party was unable to choose a candidate. Lebanon’s presidency remained vacant until Joseph Aoun was elected on Thursday by an overwhelming majority of the parliament.

According to the Middle East think tank Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, what broke the deadlock was the intensified pressure from the US and Saudi Arabia, and the recent hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which saw the latter’s parliamentary position weakened.

US President Biden congratulated Aoun on his election, stating that in exercising their democratic right to elect their government, the people of Lebanon have “chosen a path aligned with peace, security, sovereignty and reconstruction.”