Aoun, who turns 61 on Friday, arrived inside parliament to swear his oath to general applause, wearing a dark suit and bright blue tie instead of his usual military uniform.
Supporters erupted in celebration in his home village of Aishiyeh in south Lebanon, where residents had gathered from the morning in front of the church which was adorned with Lebanese flags and his portrait, an AFP reporter said.
Aoun faces the daunting tasks of overseeing a ceasefire on the Israeli border and naming a prime minister to lead reforms demanded by international creditors to save the country from the worst economic crisis of its history.
Under multi-confessional Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, as do military chiefs.
The Mediterranean country has been without a president since the term of Michel Aoun -- not related to his successor -- ended in October 2022, with tensions between the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its opponents scuppering a dozen previous votes.
The president’s powers have been reduced since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.
Aoun was widely seen as the preferred pick of army backer the United States, as well as regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia.
The source said representatives from the bloc met Aoun at the parliament during a break before lawmakers returned for a second vote.
US, Saudi and French envoys have visited Beirut to increase pressure in the run-up to the vote.
Several lawmakers in the second round still objected to what they see as foreign interference in the vote.
Under Lebanon’s constitution, any presidential candidate must have not held high office for at least two years.
During the second round, one chose former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
But a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah last autumn dealt heavy blows to the Shiite militant group, including the death of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike.
The Hezbollah-Israel war has cost Lebanon more than $5 billion in economic losses, with structural damage amounting to billions more, according to the World Bank.
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