Tag: Nadim Gemayel

A total of 38 candidates either hail from deeply rooted political families, or ones trying to carve a place for themselves in the patron-client system that has dominated Lebanese politics since the Ottoman Era. The prime minister himself, Sa’ad Hariri, is the son of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, and so is Faisal Karami (47), a ranking candidate in Tripoli, who is the son of ex-premier Omar Karami and the grandson of prime minister Abdul Hamid Karami. Running for a Maronite seat in Mount Lebanon are the Gemayel cousins, Sami (37) and Nadim (35), whose fathers, Bashir and Ameen, served as presidents of the republic back in the 1980s and whose grandfather Pierre commanded the Maronite Christian community since the 1930s. Lebanon is governed by a confessional, financial, and family network that, for a long time, has bequeathed power from one generation to the next." - Sarkis Abouzeid | Lebanese journalist Sami’s father ended his term in 1988 and went into long years in exile, returning in 2000 while Nadim’s father was killed during the civil war back in 1982. Speaking to Gulf News, he added: “Inheritance is part of the structure of power (in Lebanon), and for now, the social circumstances for bypassing it are not available. The 41th anniversary of his assassination coincided with the election, prompting thousands of Druze to raise posters of the three Junblatts, pledging allegiance to Taymour, just like their fathers and grandfathers had done with his father and grandfather. Former cabinet minister and MP Sulaiman Franjieh Jr, who heads the Marada Party, will also not be running for office this year, and has decided to back his son’s candidacy instead. - Noura Boustany | Journalist His father has had his eyes set on the presidency for years and worked closely with Hezbollah and Syria to achieve that but was abandoned back in 2016, when Hezbollah chose to make its other ally, Michel Aoun, president instead. The Washington Post’s award-winning former correspondent Noura Boustany, spoke to Gulf News saying: “One thing is clear, the old feudal-dynastic entrenched so-called elite of the body politic is being seriously challenged.