Farès Boueiz

Farès Boueiz
Minister of Environment
In office
2003 – 7 September 2004
Prime Minister Rafic Hariri
Succeeded by Michel Musa (acting)
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
In office
1992–1998
Prime Minister Rafic Hariri
Preceded by Michel Aoun
Succeeded by Salim Hoss
Personal details
Born 15 January 1955
Beirut, Lebanon
Nationality Lebanese
Spouse(s) Zalfa Hrawi
Religion Maronite Church

Farès Boueiz (born 15 January 1955) is a Lebanese politician, who served as foreign minister for two terms and also, as environment minister.

Early life

Boueiz was born into a Maronite family in Beirut on 15 January 1955.[1][2]

Career

Boueiz is a lawyer by profession.[3] He served as foreign minister from 1990 to 1992 when he left office for a few months following the general elections of 1992[4] and was temporarily replaced by Nasri Maalouf in the post.[5] It was Boueiz who participated in a first official meeting with the PLO's Farouk Qaddumi, head of the group's political department, in the mid-May 1991 after a long period.[6]

Boueiz continued to serve as foreign minister from 1992 to 1998 in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.[1][7] Hariri and he had a tensed relationship due to Hariri's interventions to foreign policy.[7] When Boueiz was in office, his father-in-law, Elias Hrawi, was the President of Lebanon.[8] In 1998 Salim Hoss succeeded Boueiz as foreign minister.[9]

Boueiz was among the potential candidates for the presidency after Emile Lahoud's first term in 2004.[10][11] In 2003, Boueiz was appointed environment minister to the cabinet led by Rafic Hariri, replacing Michel Musa in the post.[8][12] Boueiz was an independent member of the cabinet.[13] On 7 September 2004, he resigned from office protesting the constitutional amendment to extend the term of Lahoud as president.[14][15] Three more ministers also resigned on the same day, namely Marwan Hamadeh, Ghazi Aridi and Abdullah Farhat.[2] These four ministers were also among the members of the parliament, who voted against the extension of Lahoud's term in the parliament.[16]

Then state minister Michel Musa replaced Boueiz as acting environment minister.[17] Boueiz served as a member of the Lebanese parliament, representing Kesrouan until 2005.[5] He was again one of the contenders for the presidency of Lebanon after Lahoud in 2007.[18] In the general elections of 2009, he was not on the list of the March 14 alliance.[19]

Views

During his second term as foreign minister, Boueiz overtly cooperated with the Syrian authorities.[20] However, in 2001, he objected the accusations of Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass regarding Patriarch Sfeir.[21] On the other hand, Boueiz was skeptical about the peace accord signed by Israel and the PLO in 1993, and argued that Palestinian refugees should not settle in Lebanon due to sensitive demographic balance between native Christians and Muslims in the country.[22] During talks with Egyptian diplomats in Rome in early April 1998, Boueiz stated that the Nazi's approach against Jewish people was based on political reasons and that "they have behaved arrogantly like the chosen people of God."[23]

Personal life

Boueiz is the son-in-law of Elias Hrawi.[24] He married Zalfa Hrawi in 1985.[25]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Boueiz, Farès". Rulers. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Four Lebanese ministers step down". BBC. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  3. ↑ Fattah, Hassan M. (6 September 2005). "Lebanon’s President Facing Pressure to Resign". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. ↑ Hijazi, Ihsan A. (26 August 1992). "2 More Lebanese Ministers Quit to Protest Election". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kechichian, Joseph A. (23 September 2007). "The wait for a leader". Ya Libnan. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Simon Haddad (1 January 2003). The Palestinian Impasse in Lebanon: The Politics of Refugee Integration. Sussex Academic Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-903900-46-8. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nicholas Blanford (31 October 2006). Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East. I.B.Tauris. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-84511-202-8. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Rola el Husseini (15 October 2012). Pax Syriana: Elite Politics in Postwar Lebanon. Syracuse University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8156-3304-4. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  9. ↑ "Foreign ministers". Rulers. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  10. ↑ Abdelnour, Ziad K. (February–March 2004). "Syria and the Presidential Succession in Lebanon". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 6 (2-3). Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "Bouez Rules out Lahoud". Naharnet. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  12. ↑ "Environmental Impact Assessment". Ministry of Energy & Water & Electricitè du Liban. April 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  13. ↑ "Lebanese Political Feud Jolts Cabinet". Los Angeles Times (Beirut). AP. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  14. ↑ Mallat, Chibli. Lebanon's Cedar Revolution An essay on non-violence and justice. Mallat. p. 122.
  15. ↑ "Druze leader Walid Jumblatt confirms his commitment to 14 March". Wikileaks. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  16. ↑ Knudsen, Are (2005). "Precarious peacebuilding: Post-war Lebanon, 1990-2005". CMI Working Paper 2. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  17. ↑ Nada Raad; Nafez Kawas (7 September 2004). "4 ministers quit Lebanese Cabinet over amendment". The Daily Star (Bairut). Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  18. ↑ Schenker, David (1 November 2007). "Presidential Elections in Lebanon: Consensus or Conflagration?" (Policy Paper). The Washington Institute. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  19. ↑ Rabil, Robert G (6 June 2009). "Lebanon at the crossroads". Lebanonwire. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Nisan, Mordechai (1999). "Christian Decline and Models of Lebanon". ACPR 83. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  21. ↑ Rabil, Robert G. (1 September 2001). "The Maronites and Syrian withdrawal: from "isolationists" to "traitors"?". Middle East Policy. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  22. ↑ Reich, Kenneth (5 October 1993). "No Peace in Lebanon Until Refugees Are Resettled, Foreign Minister Says". Los Angeles Times (Anaheim). Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  23. ↑ "ADL urges Lebanese President to publicly condemn anti-semitic comments made by Lebanese foreign minister" (Press Release). Anti-Defamation League. New York. 22 April 1998. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  24. ↑ "Gebran, "son-in-law of the world"". Now Lebanon. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  25. ↑ "Family man". Elias Hrawi website. Retrieved 16 March 2013.