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| Saad Hariri | |
|---|---|
| Name | Saad Hariri |
| Birth date | 1970-04-18 |
| Birth place | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Occupation | Politician, Businessman |
| Office | Prime Minister of Lebanon |
| Term | 2009–2011; 2016–2020 |
| Party | Future Movement |
| Father | Rafic Hariri |
| Relatives | Bahaa Hariri; Ayman Hariri |
Saad Hariri is a Lebanese politician and businessman who served two terms as Prime Minister of Lebanon and led the Future Movement party. Born into the prominent Hariri family and educated in France and Lebanon, he combined commercial interests in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon with a political career that bridged pro‑Western and Sunni constituencies. His tenure was shaped by the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War, regional tensions involving Syria and Iran, and domestic crises including fiscal challenges and the 2019–2020 protests.
Born in Riyadh in 1970 to Rafic Hariri and Nadia Al‑Awwad, he spent formative years in Saudi Arabia within the family's Saudi business environment and in Beirut during interludes. He attended French language schools and later studied at the Université Saint‑Joseph in Beirut and completed further studies in France, linking him culturally to Francophone Lebanon and to networks centered in Paris. His upbringing connected him to transnational circles including Saudi royal family affiliates, Lebanese banking elites, and international corporate executives.
A scion of the Hariri family, he entered the family conglomerate that had major interests in Oger Saudi Engineering and Construction and Saudi Oger. He held executive positions tied to construction, telecommunications, and investment vehicles operating across Gulf Cooperation Council markets such as United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The family's business prominence intersected with relationships to global firms and institutions such as World Bank consultants and European contractors. Financial stresses, including the collapse of Saudi Oger and regional market shifts, affected the family's assets and informed his later public policy focus on fiscal stabilization and investment promotion.
After the 2005 assassination of his father, he returned to Lebanon and assumed leadership of the Future Movement, a Sunni-led party aligned with pro‑Western and pro‑market positions. He cultivated alliances with parties including the March 14 Alliance and engaged in parliamentary coalitions involving Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party. He faced opposition from the March 8 Alliance led by Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement of Michel Aoun, and allies of Syria and Iran. Under his leadership the Future Movement contested legislative elections, negotiated power‑sharing arrangements under the Taif Agreement framework, and became a key interlocutor for international mediators such as United Nations envoys and French presidents.
He served as Prime Minister from 2009 to 2011 and from 2016 to 2020, navigating Lebanon's consociational system involving the President of Lebanon, the Parliament of Lebanon, and sectarian allocation of offices. His first resignation followed political deadlock with Hezbollah and resignations by allied ministers, while his second tenure ended amid widespread public protests and the fallout of the 2019 Lebanese protests. Government formation rounds required negotiation with figures such as Michel Sleiman, Najib Mikati, and Gebran Bassil, and engagement with international actors including France, United States, and European Union representatives seeking stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.
His administrations prioritized privatization drives, tax measures, and attempts to attract foreign direct investment to address a mounting debt burden and chronic fiscal deficits tied to the preexisting banking sector and public payroll. Policies targeted infrastructure projects, port and electricity concessions, and partnerships with international firms, intersecting with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in discussions about reform. Lebanon's triple‑digit debt‑to‑GDP ratio, currency pressures against the Lebanese pound, and the 2019 financial collapse led to banking restrictions and capital controls that unfolded after his premiership, though many policy debates during his terms laid groundwork for later crises.
His foreign policy balanced ties to Saudi Arabia, France, and United States while managing the realities of Hezbollah's regional posture aligned with Iran and the Syrian conflict spillover. He engaged in diplomatic exchanges concerning Syrian refugees in Lebanon, cross‑border security incidents, and maritime boundary negotiations involving Israel and Cyprus mediated by United Nations and US envoys. His government navigated sanctions regimes, regional diplomatic rifts such as the 2017–2021 Gulf diplomatic crisis, and economic diplomacy to secure investment pledges from states including Qatar and Kuwait.
The 2005 assassination of Rafic Hariri precipitated a major political realignment in Lebanon, catalyzing the Cedar Revolution, mass protests, and the withdrawal of Syrian military presence. The killing led to the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and long prosecutions that reshaped sectarian alliances and propelled him into national leadership. International investigations, indictments of members of Hezbollah, and ensuing domestic polarization defined much of his political narrative and constrained coalition formation amid security and legal controversies.
He holds dual identities linking Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and is related to siblings including Bahaa Hariri and Ayman Hariri, who have distinct corporate footprints in banking and technology. He has been active in philanthropic initiatives associated with the Hariri Foundation and has maintained international engagements with leaders from France, United States, and Arab League. After resigning in 2020, he continued to play a role in Lebanese politics as an opposition figure and interlocutor with regional capitals while overseeing family business interests and participating in transnational forums addressing reconstruction, economic reform, and diaspora relations.
Category:Lebanese politicians Category:Prime Ministers of Lebanon