Saad Hariri: The accidental politician
Omar Shariff
Out of nowhere, on November 4, Lebanons prime minister Saad Hariri took the region by storm by announcing his resignation. The announcement came not from his office in Beirut, but from his residence in Riyadh. He said he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accused Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah of destroying the regions stability.
Under Lebanons confessional political set up, the president of the country is, by law, a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni, and the speaker of parliament a Shiite. And the Hariri family is by far the biggest pillar of Sunni politics in Lebanon. The Future Movement, which was set up by Saads assassinated father Rafik Hariri, and which Saad has headed since 2005, is essentially the political voice of Sunnis of Lebanon.
Saad became prime minister of Lebanon last year in a political deal that made the Hezbollah-allied Maronite Christian politician Michel Aoun President. The coalition government that resulted had nearly all of Lebanons political blocs as members, including Hezbollah.
The Hariris have always had deep ties with Saudi Arabia, which has provided tremendous political and financial support to Lebanon for a long time. Like his father before him, Saad holds both Lebanese and Saudi citizenship.
Rafik had first arrived in Saudi Arabia in 1965. By the late 1970s, he was an immensely wealthy businessman. He used much of his own money to fund philanthropic projects in his homeland, which gained him a lot of goodwill enough for him to enter Lebanese politics.
The 1990 Taif Accords which were mediated by Saudi Arabia and took place in the Saudi city of Taif marked the end of the 15-year-long Lebanese civil war. Rafik had played a key role in the lead-up to the talks. He would go on to become prime minister of Lebanon five times and earn the nickname Mr Lebanon. It was after his brutal death in a massive car bomb explosion in Beirut in 2005 for which Hezbollah operatives are being tried in absentia that his younger son Saad was thrust into the whirlpool of Lebanese politics.
Like some other scions of powerful political dynasties Indias former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi comes to mind Saad was initially reluctant to enter politics. Earlier, Saad had helped manage his fathers multibillion dollar businesses. He was born in Riyadh in 1970; his mother was Rafiks first wife, Iraqi Nida Bustani. He graduated in 1992 from McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington and
joined his fathers vast business empire. According to Forbes, Saad is currently worth $1.1 billion (Dh4.04 billion).
After his fathers death, Saad, instead of taking over the reins of the Lebanese premiership himself, backed seasoned politician and close friend of his fathers, Fouad Siniora, to become prime minister. Siniora was at the helm from July 2005 to November 2009, following which, Saad became the prime minister of Lebanon for the first time.
Before that, Saads first political successes came in the form of securing a financial aid package from the United States in 2007, largely as a result of his lobbying effort and his mediation that helped in the formation of a unity government in 2008.
The March 14 Coalition named as such to commemorate the day massive crowds gathered in Beirut to demand the end of the Syrian regimes suffocating, decades-long presence in Lebanon, following the assassination of Rafik won the elections held in June 2009. Hariri became prime minister-designate.
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