| Suleiman Frangieh سليمان فرنجيه |
|
|---|---|
| President of the Marada Movement | |
| In office 1990 – present |
|
| Preceded by | Tony Frangieh |
| Constituency | Zgharta |
| Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Lebanon | |
| In office 1992 – 2005 |
|
| In office 2009 – present |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 18, 1965 Zgharta, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Political party | Marada Movement |
| Religion | Maronite Catholic |
Suleiman Tony Franjieh (Arabic سليمان فرنجيه) , born on November 18, 1965 in Zgharta, Lebanon is the current leader of the Marada Movement[1] and a Member of Parliament for the Maronite Catholic seat of Zgharta-Zawyie, in North Lebanon. He is the son of former minister Tony Franjieh who was assassinated in 1978 and grandson of the former Lebanese President Suleiman Frangieh and as such, carries his grandfather's name.
Suleiman is the father of two children from a first marriage with Marianne Sarkis; Tony (1987) and Bassel (1992). Suleiman Fragieh has been married to Rima Karkafi since 2003 who has given birth to his daughter Vera (2007). He resides in Bnachii, a small town right next to his home town of Zgharta
Suleiman Franjieh's political career began when he was 17-years old in 1982, he became leader of the Marada Brigades. The party disbanded its militia to become a political group following the disbanding of armed militias after the Taef Agreement. Marada began to participate in social, cultural, education, health and political affairs.
He entered the Parliament for the first time on June 7, 1991 and was then the youngest MP. He was elected for three successive mandates in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and ranked first in the caza of Zgharta- Zawiah in the three aforementioned electoral sessions despite the different prevailing electoral laws: the goveranorate basis in 1992 and 1996 and the intermediate circonscription in 2000. He was candidate to the Maronite seat in the caza of Zgharta in the second circonscription in the north during the elections of June 2005. He ranked first in the cazas of Zgharta, Koura and Batroun but did not win the elections which took place on the basis of the 2000 electoral law.
He was in charge of the following ministries:
24/12/1990- 10/5/1992 State Minister in the government of Omar Karame
16/5/1992- 30/10/1992 Minister of Housing and Cooperatives in the government of Rachid Solh
31/10/1992- 25/5/1995 Minister of Municipalities and Rural Affairs in the government of late the martyr Rafic Hariri
7/11/1996- 3/12/1998 Minister of Public Health in the government of late the martyr Rafic Hariri
4/12/1998- 25/10/2000 Minister of Agriculture and Housing in the government of Salim El Hoss
26/10/2000- 15/4/2003 Minister of Public Health in the government of late the martyr Rafic Hariri
17/4/2003- 26/10/2004 Minister of Public Health in the government of late the martyr Rafic Hariri
26/10/2004- 19/4/2005 Minister of the Interior and Municipalities in the government of Omar Karame
During the Lebanese Parliamentary Elections of June 7, 2009, Suleiman Frangieh was elected again for the fourth time as a Member of Parliament for the seat of Zgharta-Zawyieh. He won the seat along with his two running partners Estephan Douwaihi and Salim Karam. The Karam and Douwaihi families have throughout modern Lebanese history produced politicians that represented Zgharta in the Lebanese Parliament.Together, these three politicians, along with the addition of MP Emile Rahme, formed the 'Free and Unified Lebanon' bloc of the Lebanese Parliament.