Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

After years of gridlock, Lebanon’s parliament elected Aoun, the chief military commander, as president. His win could unlock money for postwar reconstruction.

Aoun only needed a simple parliamentary majority of 65 votes on Thursday afternoon to be elected as Lebanon’s new leader. Members of parliament erupted in celebration as Aoun re

The Lebanese parliament elected armed forces commander Joseph Aoun as the country's new president on Thursday in a second round of voting. Aoun received 99 votes in a second vote from the 128-member parliament.

Lebanon's last president, Michel Aoun, left office two years ago, and the position has remained vacant since. He bears no relation to Joseph Aoun. On Thursday, the country is set to hold elections to fill the top post, potentially ushering in a new era of leadership.

It ended when former President Michel Aoun was elected. The president's role in Lebanon is limited under the power-sharing system in which the president is always a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament Shiite.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect army ... Aoun, no relation to former President Michel Aoun, was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi ...

(AP Photo/Hussein Malla) BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday ... assistance for reconstruction. Aoun, no relation to former President Michel Aoun, was widely seen as the ...

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect ... Aoun, no relation to former President Michel Aoun, was widely seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi ...

It ended when Michel Aoun was elected. In Lebanon, the head of state has a limited role under the power-sharing system in which the president is always a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament Shiite.

Lebanon's newly-elected President Joseph Aoun (C) delivers a speech at the Lebanese Parliament after being sworn in as the new president. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun ...

Michel Aoun – who is not related to the new president. Joseph Aoun’s appointment overcomes a major impasse; Lebanon’s parliament had met on 12 prior occasions to vote for a president but failed to elect one. Aoun’s support in parliament came from a ...