A Lebanese slipping his ballot into the ballot box, during the legislative elections of 2018. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — Expatriate businessman Omar Harfouch announced on Saturday that he will contest next year’s parliamentary elections in Tripoli’s second constituency, saying he has ambitions to become “the next prime minister of Lebanon.”
Here’s what we know:
• At a press conference, surrounded by his wife, a Russian model, and by his children and family members, the Sunni businessman, who has never been in politics, claimed he advocated “a third republic” that would not be based on confessionalism.
• “[A] child of the war, I was born in 1952 and only knew the war of Lebanon,” said Harfouch, who was born in Tripoli and holds both French and Lebanese citizenship. He added that “the time for change has come” and that he aims to fight in Parliament to recover “stolen funds.”
• Lebanon’s upcoming legislative elections are set to be held on March 27.