Farès Boueiz

Farès Boueiz
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants
In office
1990 – May 1992
Prime MinisterOmar Karami
Preceded bySelim Hoss
Succeeded byNasri Maalouf
In office
October 1992 – 1998
Prime MinisterRafic Hariri
Preceded byNasri Maalouf
Succeeded bySelim Hoss
Minister of Environment
In office
2003 – 7 September 2004
Prime MinisterRafic Hariri
Succeeded byMichel Musa (acting)
Personal details
Born (1955-01-15) 15 January 1955 (age 69)
Zouk Mikael, Lebanon
SpouseZalfa Hrawi
Alma mater

Farès Boueiz (Arabic: فارس بويز, born 15 January 1955) is a Lebanese jurist who served as a foreign minister for two terms as well as an environment minister.

Early life and education

On 15 January 1955, Boueiz was born into a Maronite family in Zouk Mikael.[1] In 1977 he obtained a law degree from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon, and in 1978 he specialized in corporate and international law at Jean Moulin University in Lyon, France.[2]

Career

Boueiz is a lawyer by profession.[3] In 1989 and 1990, he was appointed as the personal representative of Elias Hrawi, President of Lebanon, to France, Syria and the Vatican.

From 1990 to 1992, he served as foreign minister from when he left office for a few months following the general elections in 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 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.[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.

In 2003, Boueiz was appointed environment minister to the cabinet led by Rafic Hariri, replacing Michel Musa in the post.[8][9] Boueiz was an independent member of the cabinet.[10] On 7 September 2004, he resigned from office protesting the constitutional amendment to extend the term of Émile Lahoud as president.[11] Three more ministers also resigned on the same day, namely Marwan Hamadeh, Ghazi Aridi and Abdullah Farhat.[1] These four ministers were also among the members of the parliament who voted against the extension of Lahoud's term.[12]

The state minister Michel Musa replaced Boueiz as acting environment minister.[13] Boueiz was among the potential candidates for the presidency after Émile Lahoud's first term in 2004.[14]

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.[15]

In the general elections in 2009, Boueiz was not on the list of the March 14 alliance.[16]

Views

During his second term as foreign minister, Boueiz overtly cooperated with the Syrian authorities.[17] However, in 2001, he objected the accusations of Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass regarding Patriarch Sfeir.[18] 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.[19] During talks with Egyptian diplomats in Rome in early April 1998, Boueiz argued that the Nazis' approach against Jewish people was based on political reasons stating "they have behaved arrogantly like the chosen people of God."[20]

Personal life

Boueiz married Zalfa Hrawi in 1985[21] and is the son-in-law of Elias Hrawi.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Four Lebanese ministers step down". BBC. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. ^ "رئاسيات 2014 - فارس بويز 'غير المطواع' الجامع بين المبدئية والواقعية استقال مرتين / صداقات إقليمية ودولية لم تخلُ من فتور ومواقف أتعبته في الإنتخابات". An Nahar (in Arabic). December 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  3. ^ Hassan M. Fattah (6 September 2005). "Lebanon's President Facing Pressure to Resign" (PDF). The New York Times. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  4. ^ Ihsan A. Hijazi (26 August 1992). "2 More Lebanese Ministers Quit to Protest Election". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b Joseph A. Kechichian (23 September 2007). "The wait for a leader". Ya Libnan. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  6. ^ Simon Haddad (2003). The Palestinian Impasse in Lebanon: The Politics of Refugee Integration. Brighton; Portland, OR: Sussex Academic Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-903900-46-8.
  7. ^ a b Nicholas Blanford (2006). Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafik Hariri and Its Impact on the Middle East. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-84511-202-8.
  8. ^ a b Rola el Husseini (2012). Pax Syriana: Elite Politics in Postwar Lebanon. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8156-3304-4.
  9. ^ "Environmental Impact Assessment" (PDF). Ministry of Energy & Water & Electricitè du Liban. April 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Lebanese Political Feud Jolts Cabinet". Los Angeles Times. Beirut. AP. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  11. ^ Chibli Mallat. Lebanon's Cedar Revolution An essay on non-violence and justice (PDF). Mallat. p. 122. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2012.
  12. ^ Are Knudsen (2005). "Precarious peacebuilding: Post-war Lebanon, 1990-2005". CMI Working Paper. 2. hdl:11250/2435894.
  13. ^ Nada Raad; Nafez Kawas (7 September 2004). "4 ministers quit Lebanese Cabinet over amendment". The Daily Star. Bairut. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Bouez Rules out Lahoud". Naharnet. 14 August 2004. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  15. ^ David Schenker (1 November 2007). "Presidential Elections in Lebanon: Consensus or Conflagration?" (Policy Paper). The Washington Institute. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  16. ^ Robert G. Rabil (6 June 2009). "Lebanon at the crossroads". Lebanonwire. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  17. ^ Mordechai Nisan (1999). "Christian Decline and Models of Lebanon" (PDF). ACPR. 83.
  18. ^ Robert G. Rabil (1 September 2001). "The Maronites and Syrian withdrawal: from "isolationists" to "traitors"?". Middle East Policy. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  19. ^ Kenneth Reich (5 October 1993). "No Peace in Lebanon Until Refugees Are Resettled, Foreign Minister Says". Los Angeles Times. Anaheim. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  20. ^ "ADL urges Lebanese President to publicly condemn anti-semitic comments made by Lebanese foreign minister". Anti-Defamation League. New York. 22 April 1998. Archived from the original (Press Release) on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  21. ^ "Family man". Elias Hrawi website. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  22. ^ "Gebran, "son-in-law of the world"". Now Lebanon. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2013.