Former MP Mikhael Al-Daher. (Courtesy of Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Former Lebanese MP Mikhael al-Daher died Tuesday at the age of 95, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported.
Daher, a lawyer, served as the MP for the Maronite seat in Akkar between 1972 and 2005. He also participated in the government of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri as Minister of National Education and Fine Arts in 1992 during the era of President Elias Al-Harawi.
In 1988, the Syrian regime of Hafez al-Assad and the United States — political allies at the time — tried to impose Daher as president of Lebanon.
After a visit to Damascus, then-US Special Envoy Richard Murphy warned during meetings with Christian leaders that it would be "either Mikhael al-Daher [as president] or chaos." But his candidacy was not accepted and the Christian parties boycotted the parliamentary electoral session.
In 2004, the former MP also opposed a Constitutional amendment that would allow the prorogation of outgoing president Emile Lahoud's mandate. The text was nevertheless adopted on Sept. 3 by Parliament and Lahoud was reinstated for three more years.
In 2005, Daher failed to win reelection for his seat in Parliament. He withdrew from political life.