The Army Commander in Chief, General Joseph Aoun, said on Monday that he was neither preoccupied nor concerned by the presidential election.
During his meeting with a delegation from the Press Union on Monday, General Aoun indicated that he prioritizes the country’s security – which is his main mission as a military officer – in particular the issue of the Syrian influx at the borders and the confrontations at the Palestinian camp of Ain el-Helweh.
During the meeting, he stressed that security is primordial and noted that he and his troops were working day and night to maintain it. He also said that he had taken all the necessary measures and deployed military forces around the camp to prevent the fighting from spreading.
Joseph Aoun also declared that the influx of Syrian migrants was now controlled at 85%, despite the lack of the necessary manpower and logistical resources.
This comes after almost a year of presidential vacuum, and after the end of French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s third visit to Lebanon, who implicitly advised the political forces to drop their respective candidates (former minister Jihad Azour and Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh) to elect Joseph Aoun.
At a time when the political class is drowning in squabbles, General Joseph Aoun continues to fulfill his mission. The fact remains that a large part of the population sees him as a lifeline.
