Farès Boueiz (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: 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 Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

family in Zouk Mikael. In 1977 he obtained a law degree from

Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut (; French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', commonly known as USJ) is a private Catholic research university in Beirut, Lebanon, founded in 1875 by French Jesuit missionaries and subsidized by the Go ...

in Lebanon, and in 1978 he specialized in corporate and international law at

Jean Moulin University The Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 (), also referred to as Lyon 3, is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French Resistance fighter Jean Moulin and specialises in Law, Politics, Philosophy, Management and la ...

in Lyon, France.

Career

Boueiz is a lawyer by profession. In 1989 and 1990, he was appointed as the personal representative of Elias Hrawi,

President of Lebanon The president of the Lebanese Republic () is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliament for a term of six years, which cannot be renewed immediately because they can only be renewed non-consecutively. By convention, ...

, 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 A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

in 1992 and was temporarily replaced by Nasri Maalouf in the post. It was Boueiz who participated in a first official meeting with the

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

's Farouk Qaddumi, head of the group's political department, in mid-May 1991 after a long period. Boueiz continued to serve as foreign minister from 1992 to 1998 in the cabinet led by

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed fi ...

. Hariri and he had a tensed relationship due to Hariri's interventions to foreign policy. When Boueiz was in office, his father-in-law, Elias Hrawi, was the

. 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. Boueiz was an independent member of the cabinet. On 7 September 2004, he resigned from office protesting the constitutional amendment to extend the term of

Émile Lahoud Émile Jamil Lahoud (born 12 January 1936) is a Lebanese politician who served as the 11th president of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007. During his presidency, the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon, that had lasted since 1982, ended in May 2000. ...

as president. Three more ministers also resigned on the same day, namely

Marwan Hamadeh Marwan Hamadeh (; born 11 September 1939) is a Lebanese journalist and politician, who served in various capacities in different cabinets, including minister of education, minister of telecommunications, minister of economy and trade, minister o ...

, Ghazi Aridi and Abdullah Farhat. These four ministers were also among the members of the parliament who voted against the extension of Lahoud's term. The state minister Michel Musa replaced Boueiz as acting environment minister. Boueiz was among the potential candidates for the presidency after Émile Lahoud's first term in 2004. Boueiz served as a member of the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

, representing Kesrouan until 2005. He was again one of the contenders for the presidency of Lebanon after Lahoud in 2007. In the

in 2009, Boueiz was not on the list of the

March 14 alliance The March 14 Alliance (), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, was a coalition of political party, political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that were united by their anti-Ba'athist Syria, Assad stance and by their opp ...

Views

During his second term as foreign minister, Boueiz overtly cooperated with the Syrian authorities. However, in 2001, he objected the accusations of Syrian Defense Minister

Mustafa Tlass Mustafa Abdul Qadir Tlass (; 11 May 1932 – 27 June 2017) was a Syrian military officer, author, historian and politician who was Ba'athist Syria's minister of defense from 1972 to 2004. He was part of the four-member Regional Command during th ...

regarding Patriarch Sfeir. 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. During talks with Egyptian diplomats in Rome in early April 1998, Boueiz argued that the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

' approach against

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

was based on political reasons stating "they have behaved arrogantly like the chosen people of God."

Personal life

Boueiz married Zalfa Hrawi in 1985 and is the son-in-law of Elias Hrawi.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boueiz, Fares 20th-century Lebanese lawyers 21st-century Lebanese lawyers 1955 births Candidates for President of Lebanon Foreign ministers of Lebanon Environment ministers of Lebanon Lebanese Maronites Living people Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Politicians from Beirut Saint Joseph University alumni University of Lyon alumni