Michel Aoun
Encyclopedia
Michel Naim Aoun (born February 18, 1935) is a former Lebanese Army Commander and he is one of the allies of Hezbollah. From 22 September 1988 to 13 October 1990, he has served as Prime Minister of the legal one of two rival governments that contended for power. He declared "The Liberation War" against the Syrian Occupation on the 14th of March 1989. On the 13th of October, the Syrian forces, supported by Lebanese militia members, invaded Beirut killing hundreds of unarmed soldiers and civilians obliging General Aoun to surrender after which he was exiled to France. He returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, eleven days after the withdrawal of Syrian troops. In 2006, as head of the Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

 (FPM), he signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah. He visited Syria in 2009.Aoun is currently a Member of Parliament. He leads the "Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

" party which has 27 representatives and is the second biggest bloc in the parliament.

Background and early career

A Maronite, Michel Aoun was born to a modest family in the mixed Christian and Shiite suburb of Haret Hreik
Haret Hreik
Haret Hreik is a mixed Shia and Maronite Christian town, in the Dahieh suburbs, south of Beirut, Lebanon. Once an agricultural village, Haret Hreik lost its rural identity due to the wave of refugees from Southern Lebanon who settled in the town and made it another urban neighborhood of Dahieh...

, to the south of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

. He finished his secondary education at the College Des Frères in 1955 and enrolled in the Military Academy as a cadet officer. Three years later, he graduated as an artillery officer in the Lebanese Army.

Michel Aoun is married to Nadia El-Chami. They have three daughters: Mireille, Claudine and Chantal.

Civil war

During the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

 in September 1983, Aoun's multi-confessional 8th Mechanised Infantry Battalion fought Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

, Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...

 and Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 forces at the battle of Souq el Gharb
Souk El Gharb
Souk El Gharb is a village in the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Aley District, in the country of Lebanon. The name of the village translates to "Western Market."...

.

Rival governments

On September 22, 1988, the outgoing President, Amine Gemayel
Amine Gemayel
Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...

, dismissed the civilian administration of Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss
Selim al-Hoss
Selim Ahmed El-Hoss is a veteran Lebanese politician. He was a Prime Minister of Lebanon and a longtime Member of Parliament representing his hometown, Beirut.-Education:...

 and appointed a six-member interim military government (as prescribed by the Lebanese Constitution should there be no election of a President as was the case at the time), composed of three Christians and three Muslims, though the Muslims refused to serve. Backed by Syria, Al-Hoss declared his dismissal invalid. Two governments emerged (one civilian and mainly Muslim in West Beirut, headed by Al-Hoss, the other, military and mainly Christian, in East Beirut, led by Michel Aoun acting as Prime Minister).

Gemayel's move was of questionable validity, as it violated the unwritten National Pact of 1943, which reserved the position of prime minister for a Sunni Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

. Gemayel argued, however, that as the National Pact also reserved the presidency for a Maronite Christian, and as the Prime Minister assumes the powers and duties of the President in the event of a vacancy, it would be proper to fill that office temporarily with a Maronite. Gemayel referenced 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 Bechara El Khoury
Bechara El Khoury
Bechara El Khoury was the first post-independence President of Lebanon, holding office from 21 September 1943 to 18 September 1952, apart from an 11-day interruption in 1943...

.

Aoun could rely on 60% of the Lebanese army, including nearly all tanks and artillery, as well as on the Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...

 (LF) militia headed by Samir Geagea
Samir Geagea
Samir Farid Geagea , born October 25, 1952, is a Lebanese politician. He is also a senior figure in the March 14 Alliance, alongside Saad Hariri and Amine Gemayel....

 and the National Liberal Party
National Liberal Party (Lebanon)
The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...

 headed by Dany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun was a prominent Lebanese politician. A Maronite Christian and the younger son of former President Camille Chamoun, Dany Chamoun was also a politician in his own right, and was known for his opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by foreign forces, whether Syrian or...

. He also received the support of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

's President Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

.

Aoun controlled parts of east Beirut and some neighbouring suburbs. In the spring of 1989, the alliance with the Lebanese Forces fell apart when former ally Samir Geagea turned against Aoun. Geagea broke ranks with Aoun after he began to question Aoun insistence with continuing the losing war against the Syrians. When Aoun tried to dissolve the LF Geagea fought back violently. Then Michel Aoun used the army to wrest control of LF held ports, in order to collect customs revenues for his government.

Liberation War against Syria

On March 14, 1989, after a Syrian attack on the Baabda presidential palace
Baabda Palace
Baabda Palace is the official residence of the President of Lebanon. It is situated on a hill in the mountain town of Baabda overlooking Beirut. It is surrounded by the Ministry of Defence and various military posts...

 and on the Lebanese Ministry of Defense in Yarze, Aoun declared Liberation war against the Syrian army which was better armed than the Lebanese forces (some 40,000 Syrian troops were in Lebanon at the time). The Syrians were supported by the US government led by George H. Bush in exchange for their support against Saddam Hussein. Over the next few months Aoun's army and the Syrians exchanged artillery fire in Beirut until only 100,000 people remained from the original 1 million, the rest fled the area. During this period Aoun became critical of American support for Syria and moved closer to Iraq, accepting arms supplies from Saddam Hussein.

In October 1989 Lebanese National Assembly members met to draw up the Taif Accord in an attempt to settle the Lebanese conflict. Aoun refused to attend, denounced the politicians who did so as traitors and issued a decree dissolving the assembly. After it was signed, Aoun denounced the Accord for not appointing a real date for the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. After they signed the Taif Accord, the assembly met to elect René Moawad
René Moawad
René Moawad was President of Lebanon for 17 days in 1989, from the 5th to the 22nd of November, when he was assassinated by unknowns. Syria accused Michel Aoun of the assassination....

 as President in November. Despite heavy handed pressure from Syria to dismiss Aoun, Moawad refused to do so; his presidency lasted just 17 days before he was assassinated. Elias Hrawi
Elias Hrawi
Elias Hrawi was a President of Lebanon, whose term of office ran from 1989 to 1998.He was a native of the Beqaa valley. He was elected on 24 November 1989, two days after the assassination of René Moawad, who had held office for just seventeen days...

 was elected in his place. After assuming office as president, Hrawi appointed General Émile Lahoud
Émile Lahoud
General Émile Jamil Lahoud is a former President of Lebanon. Lahoud is a Maronite-Catholic, as is required for the Lebanese presidency. Under Lebanon's unwritten constitutional agreement, the National Pact, the presidency is earmarked for Maronite_Catholic, the parliament speaker's post for a Shia...

 as commander of the army and ordered Aoun out of the Presidential Palace. Aoun rejected his dismissal, and his position was weakened after, on the suggestion of the Syrian regime which promised him the presidency, he attacked the "Lebanese Forces" a Christian militia, with the conflict lasting from January to October 1990.

Exile

The end approached for Aoun when his Iraqi ally Saddam Hussein, launched his invasion of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 on August 2, 1990. Syria's President Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad
Hafez ibn 'Ali ibn Sulayman al-Assad or more commonly Hafez al-Assad was the President of Syria for three decades. Assad's rule consolidated the power of the central government after decades of coups and counter-coups, such as Operation Wappen in 1957 conducted by the Eisenhower administration and...

 sided with the United States. In return, the United States agreed to support Syria's interests in Lebanon. On October 13, with American permission, Syrian
Military of Syria
The Syrian Armed Forces are the military forces of Syria. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Air Defense Force.-Manpower:The President of Syria is the commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces, comprising some 646,500 troops upon mobilization. The military is a conscripted force;...

 forces attacked the presidential palace in Baabda
Baabda
Baabda is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon....

, where Aoun was preparing for an attack where he trapped the Syrians. Not very long after the attacks, Aoun was asked to leave Lebanon with the full support of the French Ambassador. There he broadcasted on a radio,"Let them learn not to interfere with Lebanese internal issues and no foreign army, not even the Syrian army, has the right to control Lebanon as they wish, and no human being enters Lebanon aggressively, or else they meet the consequences". Ten months later Aoun went into exile in France, where he led a political party, the Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

. In 2003, an avowed Aounist candidate, Hikmat Deeb, came surprisingly close to winning a key by-election in the Baabda
Baabda
Baabda is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon....

Aley
Aley
Aley is a picturesque town in Mount Lebanon. It is located 17 km uphill from Beirut, just south of the summer resort of Bhamdoun and north of the strategic town of Souk El Gharb.-Demographics:...

 constituency with the endorsement of such right-wing figures as Solange
Solange Gemayel
Solange Gemayel is a political figure and former First Lady of Lebanon. The widow of former President-elect Bachir Gemayel , who was assassinated days before he was due to take office in 1982, she helped to found the Bachir Gemayel Foundation, to keep his legacy alive.Solange Tutunji married...

 and Nadim Gemayel (the widow and son of former President-elect Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...

, who was assassinated in 1982), as well as leftists like George Hawi
George Hawi
George Hawi was a Lebanese politician and former secretary general of the Lebanese Communist Party . He was assassinated in 2005.-Background:...

 of the Lebanese Communist Party
Lebanese Communist Party
The Lebanese Communist Party – LCP or Parti communiste libanais in French, is a communist political party in Lebanon...

, although most of the opposition (constituted mainly of Qornet Shehwan Gathering
Qornet Shehwan Gathering
The Qornet Shehwan Gathering is a Lebanese political organization, comprising politicians, intellectuals, and businessmen, mostly Christian and ranging in ideology from the centre-right to the center-left. The organization is not a political party in the classical sense: its members belong to,...

) supported the government candidate, Henry Hélou. Aoun's ability to attract support from key figures of both the left and right revealed that he was a force to be reckoned with.

Return to Lebanon

Aoun ended 15 years of exile when he returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, 11 days after the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. He held a short press conference at Beirut International Airport before heading with a convoy of loyalists and journalists to the "Grave of the Un-named Soldiers and Martyrs" who died in the cause of Lebanese nationalism. After praying and expressing his gratitude and blessing to the people, he went on to the grave site of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...

, who was assassinated on 14 February 2005 to pay his respects there. Then, he visited Samir Geagea
Samir Geagea
Samir Farid Geagea , born October 25, 1952, is a Lebanese politician. He is also a senior figure in the March 14 Alliance, alongside Saad Hariri and Amine Gemayel....

 who was still in jail for 11 years. His journey continued to Martyr's Square where he was greeted by supporters of the Cedar Revolution
Cedar Revolution
The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...

.

Since his arrival, Aoun has moved into a new home in Lebanon's Rabieh
Rabieh
Rabieh is a suburban area on the northern edge of Greater Beirut, Lebanon, about 20 minutes driving distance from Beirut. It is located in the foothills of Mount Lebanon, on the road to Bikfaya. Rabieh saw its population increase sharply in the late 1980s, following the Lebanese civil war...

 district, where he was visited on 8 May by a large delegation from the disbanded Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...

 (LF), who were among Aoun's former enemies. Aoun and Sitrida Geagea
Sitrida Geagea
Sethrida Tawk Geagea , is a Lebanese politician born on May 31, 1967 in Kumasi, Ghana.-Early life:Sethrida Geagea hails from a prominent Maronite Lebanese Taouk family that owned businesses in West Africa - Ghana. Sethrida is renowned for her beauty, which makes her a media favorite in Lebanon...

, wife of the imprisoned LF leader Samir Geagea (since released), publicly reconciled. Aoun later visited Geagea in prison (he was the first of all political leaders to do so) and called for his release. Other prominent visitors that day and the next included National Liberal Party
National Liberal Party (Lebanon)
The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...

 leader Dory Chamoun
Dory Chamoun
Dory Chamoun is a Lebanese politician who leads the National Liberal Party, and is also a prominent member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a coalition of politicians, academics, and businessmen who oppose the pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance and Syrian influence in Lebanon.Dory Chamoun is the elder...

, Solange Gemayel
Solange Gemayel
Solange Gemayel is a political figure and former First Lady of Lebanon. The widow of former President-elect Bachir Gemayel , who was assassinated days before he was due to take office in 1982, she helped to found the Bachir Gemayel Foundation, to keep his legacy alive.Solange Tutunji married...

, Nayla Moawad
Nayla Moawad
Nayla Moawad is a Lebanese politician. Outside of Lebanon, she is best known as the widow of former President René Moawad, who was assassinated on 22 November 1989. Within Lebanon, she is a high-profile politician in her own right, having served as a member of the National Assembly since 1991...

 (widow of assassinated President René Moawad
René Moawad
René Moawad was President of Lebanon for 17 days in 1989, from the 5th to the 22nd of November, when he was assassinated by unknowns. Syria accused Michel Aoun of the assassination....

), and opposition MP Boutros Harb
Boutros Harb
Boutros Harb , is a Lebanese politician.A lawyer by profession, he first held political office when elected in 1972 as the Maronite deputy for Batroun, in the North Governorate of Lebanon, being appointed Public Transport Minister for Labour and Minister of the National Education and Art Schools...

. Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir of the Maronite community sent a delegation to welcome him, and even the Shiite Muslim
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...

 Hizbullah Party sent a delegation.

2005 Elections

In the parliamentary election
Elections in Lebanon
Elections in Lebanon gives information on election and election results in Lebanon.- Parliamentary electoral system :Lebanon's national legislature is called the Assembly of Representatives...

 at the end of May 2005, Aoun surprised many observers by entering into electoral alliances with a number of former opponents, including some pro-Syrian politicians including Michel Murr
Michel Murr
Michel Murr is a Lebanese politician and businessman. He first occupied the post of Minister of the Interior, as well as being Deputy Prime Minister in Rafik Hariri's first cabinet in 1992 and remained in the post in all subsequent cabinets formed by Hariri, except the last one, in which his son,...

 and Suleiman Frangieh, Jr. The 14 March coalition(a strong ally of Syria throughout its occupation of Lebanon up until 2005) did the same by forming the Quadruple alliance with Hezbollah and Amal, two of the biggest pro-Syrian parties in Lebanon. Aoun opposed the March 14 parliamentary coalition which included the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party
Progressive Socialist Party
The Progressive Socialist Party or PSP , also known as Parti Socialiste Progressiste in French, is a political party in Lebanon. Its current leader is Walid Jumblatt...

, the Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...

 and some other parties. Critics argue that this law, implemented by Syrian intelligence chief Ghazi Kanaan, does not provide for a real popular representation and marginalizes many communities especially the Christian one throughout the country.

In the third round of voting, Aoun's party, the Free Patriotic Movement, made a strong showing, winning 21 of the 58 seats contested in that round, including almost all of the seats in the Christian heartland of Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...

. Aoun himself was elected to the National Assembly. In the fourth and final round, however, the FPM failed to win any seats in Northern Lebanon due mainly to the 2000 electoral law that gave the pro Hariri Muslim community of Tripoli an easy veto over any Christian candidate in its electoral district, thus falling short of its objective of holding the balance of power between the main "anti-Syrian" opposition coalition (formerly known to be Syria's strong allies) led by Sa'ad Hariri
Saad Hariri
Saad-eddine Rafiq Al-Hariri is a Saudi-Lebanese billionaire who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 until 2011. He is the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005...

 (which won an absolute majority) and the Shiite-dominated Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

-Hezbollah alliance.

The FPM won 21 seats in the parliament, and formed the second biggest bloc in the Lebanese Parliament.

Memorandum of Understanding between the FPM and Hezbollah

In 2006, Michel Aoun and Hassan Nasrallah met in Mar Mikhayel Church, Chiyah, a venue that symbolizes Christian-Muslim coexistence as the Church, located in the heart of the mainly Muslim Beirut southern suburb, was preserved throughout the wars. The FPM signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah organizing their relation and discussing Hezbollah's disarmament given some conditions. The second and third conditions for disarmament were the return of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails and the elaboration of a defense strategy to protect Lebanon from the Israeli threat. The agreement also discussed the importance of having normal diplomatic relations with Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and the request for information about the Lebanese political prisoners in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 and the return of all political prisoners and diaspora in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

2006 Lebanese Anti-Government Protest

On December 1, 2006 Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun declared to a crowd of protesters that the current government of Lebanon was unconstitutional claiming that the government had "made corruption a daily affair" and called for the resignation on the government. Hundred of thousands of supporters of this party, Amal Movement
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

 and Hezbollah, according to the Internal Security Forces (ISF), gathered at Downtown Beirut trying to force Fouad Siniora
Fouad Siniora
Fuad Siniora is a Lebanese politician, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon, a position he held from 19 July 2005 to May 25, 2008 the date of the election of the new President of Lebanon; he was renominated to the post on 28 May 2008 and held the post as Acting President between those...

 to abdicate.

2008 Government formation

On July 11, 2008, Aoun's party entered the Lebanese government. FPM members, Issam Abu Jamra as Deputy-Prime Minister, Gebran Bassil
Gebran Bassil
Gebran Bassil is a Lebanese politician,he is also a member of the March 8 Alliance-backed Free Patriotic Movement. Owing to his immense qualifications he served as the Minister of Telecommunications in the Lebanese cabinet from May 2008 to June 2009, and then served as Minister of Energy in the...

 as Minister of Telecommunications, and Mario Aoun as Minister of Social Affairs were elected into government. It is the Movement's first participation in any Lebanese Government.

2009 Elections and Government Formation

The results of the 2009 Elections
Lebanese general election, 2009
-Background:Prior to the election, the process to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years was put into motion, but as this requires a constitutional amendment, it did not happen before the election.- Allocation of seats :...

 granted the FPM 18 parliamentary seats. These numbers were the result of Aoun's alignement with Hezbollah and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 since 2006: most votes that gave seats to the FPM came from Hezbollah and pro-Syrian parties in Lebanon(Marada, PSNS and Lebanese Resistance dissidents (ex-members from the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb and other parties that fought the Syrian occupation).
In November 2009, and after 6 months of strong political pressure by General Michel Aoun himself, by refusing any participation in the government that was inferior to the 2008 participation, Prime Minister Saad Hariri eventually gave in. The Free Patriotic Movement nominated three ministers to join the first government headed by Saad Hariri
Saad Hariri
Saad-eddine Rafiq Al-Hariri is a Saudi-Lebanese billionaire who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 until 2011. He is the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005...

, who would receive the ministry of telecommunications, the ministry of energy and water, and the ministry of tourism.
Aoun and his allies got one third of the government, but were one minister short of having veto power.

On the 12th of January 2011, in a move orchestrated from Aoun's house in Rabieh with Hezbollah and Syrian allies, the Hariri government was toppled through the resignation of the FPM ministers and their allies. On the 13th of June 2011, a new government headed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati saw light where Aoun's C&R bloc assumed 12 ministries.

Political strategy

In an unprecedented move, Aoun signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with Hezbollah on February 6, 2006. His present strategy is a "war against corruption" .

Timeline

1935: Born in the Beirut suburb of Haret Hreik
Haret Hreik
Haret Hreik is a mixed Shia and Maronite Christian town, in the Dahieh suburbs, south of Beirut, Lebanon. Once an agricultural village, Haret Hreik lost its rural identity due to the wave of refugees from Southern Lebanon who settled in the town and made it another urban neighborhood of Dahieh...

, as the son of poor Maronite parents. His father was a butcher.

1941: His family has to move out of their house, as British/Australian forces occupy it.

1955: He finishes his secondary education, and becomes a cadet officer at the Military Academy.

1958: Graduates as an artillery officer in the army.
— Goes to France, to receive further military training at Châlons-sur-Marne. He graduates the following year.
— Promoted to Second Lieutenant on September 30

1966: Gets military training at Fort Sill
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...

, Oklahoma, USA.

1978: Goes to France for more military training at École Supérieure de Guerre.

1980: Returns to Lebanon, where he soon is appointed head of the Defence Brigade, which is stationed along the Green Line
Green Line (Lebanon)
The Green Line was a line of demarcation in Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990. It separated the mainly Muslim factions in West Beirut from the Christian Lebanese Front in East Beirut. The appellation refers to the coloration of the foliage that grew because the space...

 that separated West and East Beirut.

1982: Aoun is promoted to brigadier-general and gets command over the new 8th Brigade, a multi-confessional army unit.

1983: Aoun's 8th Brigade, against superior odds, successfully fends off an attack by Syrian Aligned militias in Suq-al-Gharb firmly establishing his military credentials.

1984: Is promoted to Lieutenant-general (3 star General), and military chief of staff.

1988 September 22: Is appointed by outgoing president Amine Gemayel
Amine Gemayel
Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...

 (15 minutes before the expiration of his term) to head a military government to be formed by members of the Martial Court, which Aoun as Armed Forces Commander chairs. The Muslim members of the Martial Court, it later transpired, are pressured by the Syrian occupant to decline their appointments. The area under Aoun's control at this point is very small: East Beirut and surrounding suburbs. Amine Gemayel
Amine Gemayel
Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...

 appointed officers to take over after briefly considering judges or a caretaker government formed of politicians. Having failed to form a political caretaker government and feeling that judges "can't defend themselves" he opted for a military cabinet. Indeed, Amine Gemayel
Amine Gemayel
Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...

's had quite presciently recognized that his own nemesis throughout his presidency the militia his slain brother Bashir Gemayel had founded, the "Lebanese Forces", would also attempt to undermine the authority of a caretaker government.

1989: In February 1989, the Lebanese army take control of the harbour of Beirut, which came to involve military actions against the "Lebanese Forces". in March, as part of his strategy to reestablish the government's control over illegal ports, Aoun established a Maritime Control Center to stifle trafficks from illegal ports operated by Syrian-aligned militias. These militias respond by shelling the sector under Aoun's control, including of the presidential palace, the seat of Aoun's government. In light of Syrian participation in these acts of sedition, Aoun declares a "war of liberation" against Syria. In September, Aoun agreed to an Arab League brokered cease-fire. In October 1989, even though the National Reconciliation Charter got support from most Muslim and Christian parliamentarians, Aoun rejected it, because it did not propose a clear schedule for the Syrian army withdrawal from Lebanon, because "the Charter was passed under duress, with Parliamentarians on foreign soil under Saudi and Syrian foreign influence". Aoun, using his constitutional powers as acting president dissolved the Parliament.

November 5, 1988: Aoun refused to recognize the president Rene Muawad newly elected by a parliament that he had dissolved. On November 24, as had been the case with Muawad (assassinated on November 22), Aoun did not recognize the new elected president Elias Hrawi
Elias Hrawi
Elias Hrawi was a President of Lebanon, whose term of office ran from 1989 to 1998.He was a native of the Beqaa valley. He was elected on 24 November 1989, two days after the assassination of René Moawad, who had held office for just seventeen days...

. Hrawi responded by dismissing Aoun. Aoun ignored the dismissal, insisting that him and not Hrawi holds the legal constitutional powers. Aoun's argument remained that having dissolved parliament, the election of Hrawi (and Muawad before him) by that parliament is therefore null and void.

January 1990: Aoun's forces stationed in Amshit and Sarba, were attacked by Christian "Lebanese Forces" militia. The forces loyal to Aoun were forced to retreat, with four officers of the Lebanese army executed by Lebanese Forces squads. The push was then halted when commander François al-Hajj
François al-Hajj
General François al-Hajj was born in the southern Lebanese town of Rmaich. He was assassinated by a car bomb on December 12, 2007.-Military career:...

 deployed MILAN
MILAN
MILAN " is French and German for "kite bird") is a European anti-tank guided missile. Design of the MILAN started in 1962. It was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972. It is a wire guided SACLOS missile, which means the sight of the launch unit has to be aimed at the...

 anti-tank missiles against advancing LF tanks. Later military positions belonging to the Lebanese Forces in Dbayeh, Ain El Remmaneh, Jounieh, and Beirut were attacked by the Lebanese Army loyal to Aoun. In the war that ensued, the Lebanese Army claimed multiple key positions of the Lebanese Forces, including Ain el Remmaneh, Dbayeh, and parts of a key mountain redoubt in Qlaiat allowing Aoun to control 40% of the Christian parts of Beirut, together with surrounding areas, about 900 km², but lost many military barracks, territories, key ports, and towns including but not limited to the Halat airport, Armored division and barracks in Sarba, Jounieh (Sea port and city), Amshit, Dora and Dekwaneh, and most of the northern Christian areas of Lebanon.

October 1990: Following an air and ground campaign authorized by the United States which in return received Syrian support in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, Syrian troops and air forces are able to occupy all areas controlled by the Lebanese Army.

August 1991: Under siege and militaristic pressure by the Syrian army and the Lebanese Forces, Aoun now holed up in the presidential palace of Baabda, was requested to go to the French Embassy to declare a surrender. There, he surrendered to the Syrians via a radio address, however bad communications due to heavy bombardment prevented some divisions from receiving an official order to surrender, and kept on fighting, with a particularly bloody battle happening in the town of Dahr al-Wahsh
Dahr al-Wahsh
Dahr al-Wahsh is a village in Lebanon, located to the east of Beirut. It has received attention as the site of an October, 1990 conflict termed the "Dahr al-Wahsh massacre" by Middle-East studies professor Mordechai Nisan...

 where 200 Lebanese troops managed to inflict 500 casualties on the Syrian army (the troops and many local civilians were subsequently massacred after surrendering). Aoun left for France after the Lebanese government had granted him conditional amnesty, and the French president, asylum.

January 1999: Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...

 said that Aoun could return to Lebanon with the guarantee that he will not be arrested. He was uncertain of how Syria would act, and stayed abroad.

May 7, 2005: Aoun returned to Lebanon . In late May, he participated in the parliamentary elections. He is elected to the National Assembly, and his party, the Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

, won 21 seats.

December 1, 2006: Aoun participated in massive opposition demonstration calling for the resignation of the Siniora
Fouad Siniora
Fuad Siniora is a Lebanese politician, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon, a position he held from 19 July 2005 to May 25, 2008 the date of the election of the new President of Lebanon; he was renominated to the post on 28 May 2008 and held the post as Acting President between those...

 government, which he branded unconstitutional, and "made corruption a daily affair".

2008: Participated for the first time in the Lebanese government with 5 ministers.

May 7, 2009: The Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

 won 19 seats, 5 more seats than the last elections In November, he took part in the new Government with 5 ministers.

August 2010: General Fayez Karam was arrested by Lebanese security forces for treason and collaboration with Israel. The arrested General was appointed by Aoun as Head of Anti-Terrorism Unit in 1988. Having served in the army under Aoun, accompanying him in his 15 years of exile in Paris, and returning with him in 2005, Fayez Karam was one of Aoun's close companions.
After his return in 2005, General Aoun unsuccessfully nominated Fayez Karam to the post of Head of Internal Security Forces, and twice as a Member of the Parliament of Lebanon
Parliament of Lebanon
The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year terms in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage...

.
Aoun commented at first that he would not defend Karam and hoped that the maximum punishment be imposed on him, after he and his family had received letters of confession from Fayez Karam that he was collaborating with Israel.

In 2011: The 14-month-old government collapsed after FPM ministers declared their resignation, followed by the rest of the opposition. According to Aoun, the priorities of the new government would be to break all ties with the tribunal, and to stamp out the 20-year long corruption plaguing the country. The new Government was formed on 13 June 2011, with 6 ministers for the Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

, up from 3 in the last government, and a total of 11 ministers for Aoun's C&R bloc.

External links

Official website of the Free Patriotic Movement Forum of the Free Patriotic Movement FLF in Germany: Freiheitlichen Libanesischen Freundeskreis e.V. German version of the FPM website. CPL en France : Rassemblement pour le Liban CPL en Belgique : Mouvement pour le Liban
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