Amine Gemayel - Presidency

Presidency

Amine never promised the Israelis anything in order to be elected president, but he promised that he would follow the path of his brother Bashir whatever that path was. Therefore, once elected, Amin refused to meet any Israeli official. With foreign armies occupying two-thirds of the country (Syria in the north and east, Israel in the south), and private armies independent of government control occupying most of the rest, Gemayel's government lacked any real power. His efforts to reach a peace settlement with Israel were stymied by Syria and by Muslim politicians at home. His government found itself largely unable to collect income tax, as warlords controlling the ports and major cities pocketed the tax take themselves. Many criticized Gemayel for not moving decisively enough to assert the authority of the government, but others have pointed out that with most of the country under foreign occupation, there was little that he could do. He managed to keep a semblance of constitutional order. At one point, he was offered $30 million by Rafik Hariri if Gemayel appointed him Prime Minister. Gemayel refused the offer, and many years later Gemayel narrated the details on a live televised interview.Source: Interview with Maguy Farah on MTV c.1998.

This order began to unravel in 1988. Gemayel, whose term was due to end on 23 September, was constitutionally barred from reelection. Amine Gemayel opposed Dany Chamoun for the presidential elections, a man known for his strong anti-Syrian views, and the son of former president Camille Chamoun, or General Michel Aoun, the commander of the army. Chamoun and Aoun were both unacceptable to Syria and to Muslim politicians in Lebanon. A constitutional crisis developed. Fifteen minutes before the expiry of his term, Gemayel appointed Aoun to the post of Prime Minister, who takes on the role of Acting President if the presidency is vacant. He did so to preserve the tradition that the president, and by implication anyone acting in that role, should be a Maronite Christian, thereby going against the tradition of reserving the premiership for a Sunni Muslim. Muslim politicians and warlords refused to accept the Aoun government, instead recognizing a rival government of Selim al-Hoss, whom Gemayel had dismissed in favour of Aoun.