Diab was a career academic, joining the American University of Beirut (AUB) as an electrical engineering professor in 1985.[3] He has published over 150 articles and papers in scientific journals and scientific conferences.[3] He called himself an advocate for educational reform in Lebanon and authored books on the topic.[6] He also served as vice president for regional external programs at the AUB from October 2006 to June 2011.[7]
On 13 June 2011, Diab was appointed minister of education and higher education as part of Najib Mikati's cabinet, replacing Hasan Mneimneh in the post. Diab's term ended on 15 February 2014,[8] and Elias Abu Saab succeeded him in the post.
Diab was designated as the next prime minister succeeding Saad Hariri on 19 December 2019, amidst the protests that had caused Hariri's resignation. Diab's candidacy won the support of 69 members out of 128 of the Lebanese parliament, and his support came from parties that co-form the March 8 Alliance,[9] namely the Hezbollah-allied parliamentary blocs, but did not receive the backing of parties from his own Sunni community.[6]
Diab is an independent, not vocally supporting any political group, and had a low public profile at the time of his appointment.[6]
Lebanon's new government was formed on 21 January 2020 after Diab and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met with President Michel Aoun.[10][11] Diab then announced the new twenty-member cabinet made up of technocrats reporting that they would work on new election law, seeking an independent judiciary and the return of looted public funds.[10] During the first session of the new cabinet, Diab announced that his first official visits would be to countries "in the Arab region, especially the Gulf".[12] He said nothing about abiding by the reforms promised by Hariri and chose to maintain the ministry of information, which Hariri had promised to abolish.[13] On 3 February, Diab signed the state budget for 2020, reducing spending by $700 million[14][15] and on 6 February the cabinet approved a financial rescue plan to present to the parliament.[16]
On 7 March 2020, Diab announced Lebanon would default on a sovereign debt for the first time in its history.[17]
In the wake of the Beirut explosion, the Diab cabinet declared a two-week state of emergency in the Lebanese capital,[18] thus giving the Lebanese military full powers in the city.
On Saturday, August 8, mass protests broke out against the government, dramatically escalating as protestors, angry at the Lebanese government for their failure to prevent the disaster (and the general crisis), seized multiple government buildings and clashed with the military.[19] In the evening, in a televised address, Diab declared that Lebanon could not get out of the crisis without early parliamentary elections, echoing the demands of the protestors, and added that on Monday, he would propose to his cabinet a bill to call for early parliamentary polls.[20] Before the Monday, August 10 meeting, five ministers out of the cabinet's twenty tendered their resignation, two less than the seven required by the Lebanese Constitution to force the whole cabinet's resignation, in what was later declared by politicians close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and President Michel Aoun to have been a reaction to Diab's proposed bill. Due to Aoun's refusal to discuss the early elections bill, the meeting took place in the Grand Sérail instead of the Baabda Presidential Palace.
Diab tendered his government's resignation that evening.[21]
Personal life
Diab is married to Nuwar Mawlawi and has three children.[6] He is a Sunni Muslim.[22]
Selected publications
H. B. Diab; I. Demashkieh (1991). "A computer-aided teaching package for microprocessor systems education". IEEE Transactions on Education. 34 (2): 179–183. Bibcode:1991ITEdu..34..179D. doi:10.1109/13.81598.
J. J. Saade; H. B. Diab (2000). "Defuzzification techniques for fuzzy controllers". IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part B: Cybernetics. 30 (1). IEEE: 223–229. doi:10.1109/3477.826965. PMID18244747.
Issam Damaj; Hassan Diab (2003). "Performance analysis of linear algebraic functions using reconfigurable computing". The Journal of Supercomputing. 24 (1): 91–107. arXiv:1904.08233. doi:10.1023/A:1020993510939. S2CID29082745.
Hassan Diab (2003). "Standardization Related to Arabic Language Use in ICT". United Nations. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Ghazi Ghaith; Hassan Diab (2008). "Determinants of EFL achievement among Arab college-bound learners". Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues. 1 (4): 278–286. doi:10.1108/17537980810929993.
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