Gemayel, Amine (1942- ), president of Lebanon
(1982-1988). He was born in Bikfaya, the oldest
son of Pierre Gemayel.
In 1982, during Lebanon's war the National
Assembly elected Bashir Gemayel, Amin's younger
brother, president. Bashir was assassinated three
weeks later, and Amin, a less controversial figure
with broader support in the country, was elected
president. During Gemayel's presidency, Lebanon
continued to be torn by violence, and Syria and
Israel occupied parts of Lebanon. Gemayel presided
over many negotiations to end the war. When his
term expired in September 1988 and the Lebanese
parliament was unable to agree on a new leader,
Gemayel named the commander of the Lebanese Army,
General Michel Aoun as head of an interim
government.
As
president he set himself three main objectives:
- To work towards independence and sovereignty for
Lebanon;
- To recreate the forum for a dialogue between
Lebanon's different communities;
- To restore and modernise state institutions
Concerning Syria, in 1982, Amin Gemayel dissolved
the Arab Dissuasion Force which legitimised Syrian
military presence in Lebanon; then, despite heavy
pressure, in December 1985 he refused to ratify
the so-called Damascus treaty which was intent on
breaking up all Lebanese institutions.
As for the PLO, in 1987 he annulled the Cairo
Agreement, signed with the PLO in 1969, which
authorised them to use Lebanon as a base for
military operations against Israel.
1
On the domestic front, Amin Gemayel's activities
are aimed at establishing strong foundations for
inter-communal dialogue. He worked towards
restoring the state's role by making its
institutions credible, efficient and unified.
Throughout his term of office he fought to
preserve the unity of the administration, the
armed forces and the legal system.
He
is a critic of the Taef agreements which control
the running of these institutions. He also
condemns the Lebanese people's "consent" and their
"collaboration mentality" towards Syrian
occupation.
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