Bahaa Hariri during a meeting with residents of Qalamoun, at his place of residence in Tripoli, Monday, July 1, 2024. (Credit: His X account)
Bahaa Hariri, the eldest son of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (assassinated in 2005), has still not given up on the Lebanese political scene, despite the debacle in the 2022 legislative elections.Once in Beirut on Thursday, he immediately got down to work, organized intensive meetings with Sunni figures from various backgrounds, with the aim of winning back the Sunni popular base, orphaned and scattered since his brother, Saad Hariri, withdrew from politics in 2019. This bet, however, promises to be risky.During the past elections, the 58-year-old businessman sponsored several candidates via a large-scale advertising and media campaign. But none of his protegés were elected. Those close to him have attributed this failure to the “bad, corrupt advisors” he surrounded himself with. They now claim that he wishes to turn the page after...
Bahaa Hariri, the eldest son of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (assassinated in 2005), has still not given up on the Lebanese political scene, despite the debacle in the 2022 legislative elections.Once in Beirut on Thursday, he immediately got down to work, organized intensive meetings with Sunni figures from various backgrounds, with the aim of winning back the Sunni popular base, orphaned and scattered since his brother, Saad Hariri, withdrew from politics in 2019. This bet, however, promises to be risky.During the past elections, the 58-year-old businessman sponsored several candidates via a large-scale advertising and media campaign. But none of his protegés were elected. Those close to him have attributed this failure to the “bad, corrupt advisors” he surrounded himself with. They now claim that he wishes to turn the page...
