Under Article 50 of the Constitution, the elected head of State swore allegiance to the nation before the 128 deputies of the unicameral legislature.

Our quality is courage and our strength is adaptation, and even though we have differences, in difficult times we support each other, he stressed.

In his first words, the victorious president with 99 votes confirmed the beginning of a new stage in the history of the nation and reaffirmed his commitment to work sincerely for the good of the State.

There will be no protections, favoritisms or immunities for any criminal, corrupt or guilty, justice will be the deciding criterion, he said.

The winning president expressed a commitment to challenge the constitutionality of any law that violates the Constitution and to respect the separation of powers.

For General Aoun, unity is the guarantee of strength and it is time to bet on Lebanon and “not on the outside to strengthen us against each other”.

The new representative of the Maronite Christian community in the Baabda Palace promised an openness to East and West and to build alliances based on mutual respect.

My promise is a state that invests in its army to fight terrorism and prevent Israeli aggression on Lebanese territory.

ef/arm/ro/yma