He belongs to the Lebanese community of São Paulo, and is a member of the Partido Social Democrático (PSD). He is mentioned in 2017 among the beneficiaries of bribes from the multinational JBS.[citation needed]
Political career
1993–1994: Councillor of São Paulo
1995–1999: State Deputy of São Paulo
1999–2004: Federal Deputy (resigned to run as vice mayor of São Paulo alongside José Serra)
2005–2006: Vice Mayor of São Paulo
2006–2013: Mayor of São Paulo (re-elected on 26 Oct 2008 for a four-year term)[1]
Administration
The advertising industry criticized the city of São Paulo administration for the Cidade Limpa law, which prohibits all forms of external media and visual pollution such as billboards. Ad companies tried to keep the billboards in the streets with injunctions, but the supreme court determined the law to be constitutional. At any rate, support for the initiative from the public continues to be widespread.
In July 2021, Kassab announced that he would support Rodrigo Pacheco in the 2022 presidential election.[2]
Car Wash Operation
The biggest implicated company, Odebrecht kept an entire department to coordinate the payment of bribe to politicians. In the Car Wash Operation, officers seized several electronic spreadsheets linking the payments to nicknames. Every corrupt politician received a nickname based on physical characteristics, public trajectory, personal infos, owned cars/boats, origin place or generic preferences. Gilberto Kassab's nickname was 'Chefe Turco' and 'Kibe', portuguese form of 'Turkish Boss' and 'Kibbeh', respectively, alusing his Middle East ancestry.[3]
