Aoun Promises 'Big Achievements, New Approach'

President Michel Aoun on Friday promised that the country will soon witness “a phase of big achievements.”

“It is impossible for the State to continue with the same situation and it will move forward with a new approach,” Aoun said during a meeting in Baabda with Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil and the ministry's team of consultants.

“We have started a new era that will be dynamic, vigorous and full of ideas, determination and work,” the president added.

Aoun was elected president in October 2016 after around two and a half years of presidential vacuum.

Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.

In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country.

Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."