Saad Hariri: from novice to election winner

Saad Hariri: from novice to election winner
May 30, 2005
Beirut - Saad Hariri, the son and anointed heir of assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, is more at ease in the world of business than the rough-and-tumble of politics. But his father's killing in a February bomb blast propelled the 35-year-old tycoon to centre stage in the anti-Syrian opposition and he and his supporters swept to victory in the first round of Lebanon's elections on Sunday. He attributed his success to the sympathy vote for his popular billionaire father, saying in a television interview: "I think I am merely am a symbol for now. I need to work hard the coming four years to fill a little bit my father's shoes." His father's legacy loomed large in the campaign, as giant posters depicting Rafiq Hariri spread throughout Beirut and candidates in the anti-Syrian opposition ran on a ticket called "Martyred Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri". Supporters of Saad, Rafiq Hariri's second son by his first Iraqi wife, won all 19 seats in Beirut in the first round of the four-stage elections - nine of them even before a vote was cast as rival candidates stood down. Already a success of his own in the business world, Saad was chosen to continue the "national and political mission" of his billionaire father, who was credited with rebuilding Lebanon after the devastating 1975-1990 civil war. Sources close to the Hariri family say they tapped Saad because he has more charisma and is better at interacting with people than his eldest brother, Bahaa. Asked if he was ready to become premier, he told Newsweek: "I think with the (right) environment (and) the right alliances, I can try to be a prime minister, but we still have some symbols of the past who brought the country so much harm. "If we are able to get rid of them after the elections, I would be interested in taking the (prime minister's) post." Saad is a business graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, and heads his father's Saudi-based construction firm, Saudi Oger, one of the largest companies in the Middle East and which has a turnover of over two billion dollars and employs around 35 000 people. The Hariri empire, which has been managed by Saad since 1996, also spans banking, real estate and media through companies such as Saudi Investment Bank, Saudi Research and Marketing Group and Future Television. He also has his own real estate firm worth an estimated $145-million. Saad was born in April 1970, and is married with two young children. His wife, Lara Bashir Al-Adem, hails from a prestigious Syrian family. Though he lacks political experience, the typically soft-spoken Saad has taken over the reins from his father with ease, heading the Future Current movement. In an interview with AFP this month he pledged "a white revolution against the police state which governed Lebanon during 15 years", in a reference to Syria and its allies. The Daily Star labeled him an "unlikely" candidate whose "inexperience in walking the crooked paths of the Lebanese political environment is not a detriment but rather an asset". "Because of his lack of exposure to the corrupt reality of the Lebanese state, he has the means to resist negative aspects of governance that are so prevalent here," the newspaper said. Cognisant of the new political era Lebanon is entering, Saad Hariri said he hopes to be able to implement some of the reforms his father championed. "The economic programme could not be achieved because of the obstacles put in place by the pillars of the (pro-Syrian) police regime," he has said.
Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-05-30