Faisal Karami (; born 26 September 1971) is a Lebanese politician. He served as the minister of youth and sports in the cabinet of Najib Mikati between 2011 and 2014. He is a member of the parliament since 2018.

Early life and education

Karami was born into a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

family in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

on 26 September 1971. His father is

Omar Karami Omar Abdul Hamid Karami (last name also spelled Karamé and Karameh) (; 7 September 1934 – 1 January 2015) was the 29th prime minister of Lebanon for two non-consecutive terms. He was Prime Minister for the first time from 24 December 199 ...

a former

Prime Minister of Lebanon The prime minister of Lebanon, officially the president of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The prime minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consen ...

. He is also the nephew of

Rashid Karami Rashid Karami (; 30 December 1921 – 1 June 1987) was a Lebanese statesman. He is considered one of the most important political figures in Lebanon for more than 30 years, including during much of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990), and serve ...

, who served as prime minister for eight terms. Faisal Karami studied business administration in the United States.

Career

Karami is the head of the Arab Liberation Party. He was appointed minister of youth and sports in June 2011 to the cabinet of Najib Mikati. He was a non-affiliated member and part of the March 8 coalition in the cabinet. Karami's term ended on 15 February 2014, and Abdul Muttaleb Al Hinawi succeeded him in the post.

Controversy

Karami's appointment led to conflict during the cabinet formation process in 2011 due to the fact that

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

had explicitly asked Mikati to assign Faisal Karami as one of the ministers which was initially refused by Mikati. Mikati argued that if Karami became minister, three of the five seats would be taken by natives of Tripoli (himself, finance minister

Mohammad Safadi Mohammad Safadi (; born 28 March 1944) is a Lebanese businessman who served as minister of finance under Najib Mikati between 2011 and 2014. He was also the minister of economy and trade from 2008 to 2011. Early life and education Safadi was b ...

, and Karami), leading to imbalance in political representation. Nevertheless, Karami was appointed as a non-affiliated minister chosen by Hezbollah, and became the seventh Sunni member of the cabinet after Lebanese Parliament Speaker

Nabih Berri Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc. Early lif ...

’s AMAL party agreed to give up one of its governmental shares for him. Karami's appointment was celebrated in his hometown, Tripoli.

Attack

Karami's convoy was attacked in Tripoli on 18 January 2013, injuring four people. Karami escaped the attack unhurt. Perpetrators were armed radical Sunni

Islamists Islamism is a range of Religion, religious and Politics, political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is su ...

. One of the gunmen was wounded and later arrested.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karami, Faisal 1971 births Arab Liberation Party politicians Children of prime ministers of Lebanon Youth and sports ministers of Lebanon Lebanese Sunni politicians Living people Politicians from Tripoli, Lebanon 21st-century Lebanese politicians