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HISTORY

Elias Hrawi: Lebanon, Assad’s backyard

In political circles, Lebanon is often referred to as a country ever permeable to external influence, where embassies and consulates hold sway. While this clichéd assertion may allow local stakeholders to shirk their responsibilities, it also reflects the ascendancy of external powers in major Lebanese elections, especially those for president.

Since 1943, no president can claim to have been elected without a regional and international green light. Over the decades, several foreign powers have had a say in choosing the Lebanese head of state, be it the United Kingdom, France, Syria, Iran, Egypt or the United States.

Once elected, a Lebanese president’s mandate may also depend on regional factors. This story is one of power games, diplomatic interference and precarious geopolitical balancing acts, which L’Orient-Le Jour aims to tell in a 13-part series.

This tenth installment of our series discusses how the election of Elias Hrawi after the assassination of René Moawad reinforced Damascus’ stranglehold on Lebanon.

Elias Hrawi: Lebanon, Assad’s backyard

Elias Hrawi and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. (Credit: OLJ archives)

In his book, Return of the Republic, former President Elias Hrawi recounts that after the assassination of President René Moawad on Nov. 22, 1989, Parliament Speaker Hussein Husseini went to Damascus to discuss who would succeed him as head of state. A number of MPs were in favor of MP Pierre Helou, who held the Maronite seat in Aley, but he withdrew after consultations with his family, fearing a repetition of Moawad’s fate. During the meeting between Husseini and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, the latter told him bluntly, “Go and gather the MPs and elect Elias Hrawi.” Hence, there can be no doubt that this presidential election was 100 percent made abroad. According to many observers at the time, Moawad’s assassination and Hrawi’s election marked the beginning of the “putsch” against the “real” Taif Agreement, the internationally...
In his book, Return of the Republic, former President Elias Hrawi recounts that after the assassination of President René Moawad on Nov. 22, 1989, Parliament Speaker Hussein Husseini went to Damascus to discuss who would succeed him as head of state. A number of MPs were in favor of MP Pierre Helou, who held the Maronite seat in Aley, but he withdrew after consultations with his family, fearing a repetition of Moawad’s fate. During the meeting between Husseini and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, the latter told him bluntly, “Go and gather the MPs and elect Elias Hrawi.” Hence, there can be no doubt that this presidential election was 100 percent made abroad. According to many observers at the time, Moawad’s assassination and Hrawi’s election marked the beginning of the “putsch” against the “real” Taif Agreement, the...