section_path: History/Post-Civil War
section_name: Post-Civil War
paragraph_text: Post-Civil War
  
  Following the Taif Agreement to end the civil war, the National Assembly met on 5 November 1989 at the Qoleiat air base in North Lebanon and elected Moawad as President of Lebanon. The post had been vacant since the expiration of Amine Gemayel ’s term in 1988. The National Assembly had failed to elect a successor at that time. Seventeen days after being elected, as he was returning from Lebanon's Independence Day celebrations on November 22, 1989, a 250 kg car bomb was detonated next to Moawad's motorcade in West Beirut, killing him and 23 others. Presidential powers were handed over to the cabinet for two days until Hrawi was elected at the Park Hotel in Chtoura by 47 out of 53 members of parliament on 24 November 1989. Since Baabda Palace, the president's residence, was destroyed and bombed by Syrian troops in October 1990 to drive out General Michel Aoun, Hrawi lived in future prime minister Rafik Hariri 's Beirut apartment.
  
  Emile Lahoud then ran for the presidency in 1998 after having the constitution amended to allow the army commander-in-chief to run for office. This amendment is believed to have been backed by Syria. His presidency was secured following the receipt of 118 votes from the 128-member Lebanese Parliament. When he became Lebanon's president in 1998, he aligned himself with Hezbollah, and picked his own man as prime minister, Selim al-Hoss. This led to heightened tensions between Rafiq Hariri and Lahoud. During his term, he exerted more control over government decision-making than Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri or Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. In 2007, his presidential term ended. However, a new president was not immediately elected. Following a political deadlock which lasted for six months, the Lebanese parliament elected former army chief Michel Suleiman as president.