Bahij Tabbara (born 1929) is a Lebanese jurist and politician who held various cabinet posts and was a member the

parliament of Lebanon The Lebanese Parliament ( ar, مجلس النواب, translit=Majlis an-Nuwwab; french: Chambre des députés) is the national parliament of the Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in multi-member constit ...

. He was among the close allies of

Rafik Hariri Rafik is the given name of: *Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon *Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National *Rafik Deg ...

Early life and education

Tabbara was born in Beirut in 1929. He received a degree in law from

Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut ( French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit mis ...

in Beirut and a PhD in law from the

University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

in France.

Career

Following his graduation Tabbara began to work as a lawyer from 1954. He was also the private lawyer and legal adviser of future

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Rafik Hariri. He taught at

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU) (, ) is the only public university in Beirut, Lebanon. It is ranked #701–750 worldwide in terms of education. The creation of the Lebanese University was an idea first mentioned in the speech of the former Minist ...

and Saint Joseph University in Beirut. Between April and June 1973, Tabbara was the minister of economy and commerce in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

led by the prime minister, Amin Al Hafez. The appointment of Tabbara and another Sunni Zakariya Nsouli caused controversy in the general public and they were forced to resign. They both resigned from the office together with Al Hafez. Tabbara was involved in drafting the

election law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management b ...

of Lebanon in the 1990s. On 31 October 1992, he was named as the minister of justice in the first cabinet of Rafik Hariri. Tabbara held the post in the subsequent cabinets of Hariri until December 1998. He was the minister of state for administrative reform between 2001 and 2003. He was again appointed minister of justice in 2003 and held the post for one year. In 2005, Tabbara was elected to parliament from the

Future Movement The Future Movement ( ar, تيار المستقبل) is a Lebanese political party affiliated with the Sunni sect. The party was founded as a coalition in 1995 led by Rafic Hariri but was officially founded in 2007. The party is led by Saad Harir ...

. The same year, after the

assassination of Rafic Hariri On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was killed along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcade dr ...

, he was cited as one of the potential candidates for the premiership. In May 2019, he was also proposed as the prime minister following the resignation of the Lebanese government led by

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 t ...

, but he declined the offer. In addition to his academic and political activities Tabbara was one of the shareholders of the companies, mostly real estate companies, owned by Rafik Hariri.

Personal life and work

Tabbara married Hoda Kyriakos Saad, a lawyer, and they have three children. He is the author of several books and articles on legal topics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabbara, Bahij 1929 births Academic staff of Lebanese University Saint Joseph University alumni Academic staff of Saint Joseph University Lebanese Sunni politicians Living people Justice ministers of Lebanon Future Movement politicians Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Politicians from Beirut Grenoble Alpes University alumni 20th-century Lebanese businesspeople 21st-century Lebanese businesspeople 20th-century Lebanese lawyers