Saad Hariri

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Saad Hariri (2017)

Saad Hariri ( Arabic سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, DMG Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī ; * April 18, 1970 in Riyadh ) is a Lebanese - Saudi Arabian entrepreneur , politician and billionaire heir. He was Lebanese Prime Minister from December 18, 2016 until he resigned on October 29, 2019 under pressure from nationwide protests . His first term lasted from November 9, 2009 to January 25, 2011.

Life

Saad is the second oldest son of the entrepreneur and former head of government Rafiq al-Hariri, who was murdered in February 2005, and his first wife. His father had taken over the real estate company Saudi Oger and, thanks to building contracts from the Saudi royal family, built it into a billion-dollar empire. In addition to Lebanese citizenship, he also has French and Saudi Arabian citizenship and, like his father, is a Sunni . Like his brothers, Saad studied business administration at Georgetown University in the United States and obtained a bachelor's degree in international business in 1992. He is also considered an expert in telecommunications and information technology. He is General Director of Saudi Oger, a conglomerate with 35,000 employees, and has interests in numerous corporations in the Arab world, such as B. the Saudi Arabian bank. His father was considered friends with the Saudi Arabian royal family.

politics

After the death of his father, Saad became his political legacy. In the first partial vote of the parliamentary elections in Lebanon in 2005 on May 29th, he won with his "Reconciliation and Reform List" ( future movement ,تيار المستقبل Tayyār al-Mustaqbal , French Courant du Futur ) all 19 seats that were to be allocated in the capital Beirut; 9 of the 19 seats had no opposing candidates. The myth of Rafiq Hariris and substantial fundscontributed to the election success. The final result of the election, which took place in several rounds, the last of which on June 19 , 2005 , showeda total of 72 of the 128 parliamentary seatsfor the Alliance of March 14 under his leadership. He refused to become prime minister while Émile Lahoud (* 1936) was still president. This became the former finance minister Fuad Siniora , a longtime confidante of his father.

In the general election on June 8, 2009, Hariri's pro-western alliance received 71 of the 128 seats in parliament and significantly more votes than the pro- Syrian parties. A day later, Hariri said he wanted Hezbollah to participate in a coalition. But he did not succeed in forming a government of national unity with the participation of the opposition. Ten weeks after the election he therefore resigned from the office of Prime Minister.

Hariri was offered the government office twice after 2005, which is reserved for a Sunni according to the power-sharing system . Both times, however, he waived in favor of Fuad Siniora , a former advisor to his father. MPs from the rival camp also supported his nomination in 2009.

During the Syrian Civil War in 2012, Hariri was suspected to be one of the key figures in the organization of arms supplies for the rebels.

After a 29-month period of power vacuum and mutual blockade at the Lebanese government, the former Prime Minister General Michel Aoun was elected President in October 2016 . This enabled Hariri to continue his political career as Prime Minister. The Maronite Christian Aoun, allied with the Shiite Hezbollah militia since his return from exile in 2005, and Hariri found a compromise in balancing the balance of power. Hariri was therefore designated as prime minister. On December 18, 2016, he took up the post of Lebanese Prime Minister.

After meeting Ali Akbar Velayati , the former Iranian foreign minister, in Beirut, Hariri traveled to Riyadh on November 3, 2017. On November 4, 2017 at around 11 a.m. local time, Hariri read a statement broadcast live by the Saudi broadcaster al-Arabiya , in which he announced his resignation as prime minister. The text was peppered with atypical blows against Iran and against Hezbollah - with which he had been sitting at the cabinet table for a year. His resignation was forced by Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was accused of forcing Hariri to resign and to detain him in the Saudi capital Riyadh against his will. Saad Hariri belongs to the Abdallah line of the Saud dynasty . On November 4, 2017, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had hundreds of members of the Abdallah line arrested, including Prince Muteb as the commander of the royal guard. The Lebanese President Michel Aoun did not accept Hariri's resignation because, according to Lebanese law, the Prime Minister must personally declare his resignation to the President. On November 18, at the invitation of Macron, Hariri and his family went to France, the country from which Lebanon became independent in 1943. On the evening before Independence Day, November 22, 2017, Hariri lands back in Beirut and formally submitted his resignation to Aoun. However, Aoun did not take it and asked Hariri to hold talks in order to find a way out of the situation. Hariri then revoked his resignation.

During the protests in Lebanon in 2019 , Hariri's policy is exposed to allegations of corruption , mismanagement and nepotism . Hariri announced his resignation on the afternoon of October 29, 2019, following the demands of the demonstrators, who have been holding nationwide demonstrations for almost two weeks. Hariri has headed a government of national unity for less than two years, which includes some of his political opponents.

family

As a legacy of his father's assets Saad Hariri is on the Forbes - list of the richest people in the world and is considered one of the youngest billionaires, as well as his younger half brothers Fahd (* 1980) and Ayman Hariri (* 1978) and his elder brother Bahaa Hariri . His half-sister Hind (* 1984) was considered the youngest billionaire in the world for a short time. In the meantime, the Hariri empire is badly hit by the economic difficulties of the Oger concern, which is mainly active in Saudi Arabia . According to Forbes, the billion dollar assets have shrunk from 4.1 billion in 2005 to 1.3 billion in 2016.

He and Bahaa are from Rafiq Hariri's marriage to his first Iraqi wife. His half-siblings were born out of his father's second marriage.

Saad Hariri is married for the second time and has three children; his wife is Syrian.

literature

Web links

Commons : Saad Hariri  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Analysis of the visit of the Saudi king to Beirut , in: zenith - Zeitschrift für den Orient , August 1, 2010.
  2. ↑ Pro-Western forces win election. In: stern.de . June 8, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Martin Gehlen : Lebanon: Saad Hariri returns order to form a government. In: zeit.de . September 10, 2009, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Lebanon: Pro-Western politician Hariri is the new Prime Minister. In: Spiegel Online . June 27, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Robert F. Worth: Citing US Fears, Arab Allies Limit Aid to Syrian Rebels. In: nytimes.com . October 6, 2012, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Lebanon: Saad Hariri again head of government. In: derstandard.at . November 3, 2016, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri revokes his resignation . In: dw.com , December 5, 2017 (accessed December 6, 2017).
  8. ↑ nytimes.com: It's Official: Lebanese Prime Minister Not Resigning After All
  9. ↑ https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/frankreich-macron-laedt-libanons-premier-hariri-und-familie-ein/20590232.html?ticket=ST-14133879-VgW0rcnYZFcCnPlq2ZTr-ap2
  10. ↑ https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/naher-osten-und-afrika/aufstieg-und-fall-einer-familie/story/15024316
  11. ↑ Lebanon's Hariri resigns after nearly two weeks of nationwide protests. CNN, October 29, 2019, accessed October 29, 2019 .
  12. ^ Hind Hariri is the world's youngest billionaire. In: dailystar.com.lb . March 11, 2006, accessed November 11, 2017 .
  13. ^ Saad Hariri's Saudi problem: Desperate needs, desperate deeds. In: middleeasteye.net. December 6, 2016, accessed November 11, 2017 .
predecessor Office successor
Fouad Siniora Prime Minister of Lebanon
November 9, 2009 - January 25, 2011 		Najib Mikati
Tammam salam Prime Minister of Lebanon
December 18, 2016 - November 4, 2017 		vacant
personal data
SURNAME Hariri, Saad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harīrī, Sa'd ad-Din Rafīq al- (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lebanese politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Riad