Michel Aoun y el presidencialismo libanés: notas sobre un legado

Abstract

El general retirado Michel Aoun volvió a la vida política del Líbano en 2005, pero ya contaba con amplia experiencia dado su protagonismo en la guerra civil que asoló al país entre 1975 y 1990. Desde su regreso, se caracterizó por construir acuerdos pragmáticos con antiguos enemigos, y en 2016 esos acuerdos lo llevaron a la Presidencia de la República. Desde allí, intentó por diversos caminos, siempre constitucionales, obstaculizar o domesticar la tarea del primer ministro, buscando imponer, con distinto éxito, su voluntad. Su estilo de gobierno recuerda a la de los presidentes católicos maronitas anteriores a la guerra civil, que encabezaban un régimen presidencialista, mientras que hoy, en virtud de las reformas de 1990, el Líbano es una república parlamentaria.

Retired General Michel Aoun returned to political life in Lebanon in 2005, but he already had extensive experience given his leading role in the civil war that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1990. Since his return, he was characterized by building pragmatic agreements with former enemies; in 2016, those agreements led him to the Presidency of the Republic. From there, he tried by various ways, always constitutional, to hinder or domesticate the task of the Prime Minister, seeking to impose, with varying success, his will. His style of government is reminiscent of that of the Maronite Catholic presidents before the civil war, who headed a presidentialist regime, whereas today, by virtue of the 1990 reforms, Lebanon is a parliamentary republic.