Background
President of the Republic of Lebanon general Émile Jamil Lahoud was born on January 12 in 1936 in the capital of Lebanon Beirut.
President of the Republic of Lebanon general Émile Jamil Lahoud was born on January 12 in 1936 in the capital of Lebanon Beirut.
After getting education he connected his career with the army. He got the rank of junior lieutenant in 1959 and two months later he was the captain of the Vessel ‘Beirut’.
The future Lebanon president was appointed the commander of the second flotilla at the end of October 1966, and the commander of the First Navy in 1968. He was on different posts till 1983 when he was given an administrative position at the Defense Ministry. He became the Commander of the Lebanese Army in 1989. Being on the post till 1998 he was actively reforming the army which was weak after the long and murderous civil war. He wanted to convert it into a well-organized structure, which would include representatives of different religions. Having become president, Lahoud was approved by most of the population. He is considered a nationalist ans a corruption fighter.
The term of Lahoud’s presidency was to have come to an end in November 2004 (according to the article 49 of the Lebanon Constitution, president is elected for 6 years and cannot apprise to the position for the second time). However, the Lebanon Parliament made an amendment in the Constitution on September 3rd in 2004, which allowed prolonging Émile Jamil Lahoud’s presidency for three years. The outcome on the issue was obvious as Lahoud had a support from Syria which influenced tremendously on Lebanon’s life, and Domask allies were in the Parliament itself.
President of the Republic of Lebanon general Émile Jamil Lahoud is Christian Maronite. According to the National pact of 1943 Lebanese president, several ministers and about one third parliament must be maronites.
Maronites live mostly in Lebanon and in small groups in Syria, Egypt, Southern and Northern America, the Cyprus. Maronite religious communities appeared in V-VII centuries in north-western Syria during the process of East-West Schism. Since 1954 the head of the maronites is appointed at Vatican and has an official residence in Lebanon.