Rachid Solh (; 22 June 1926 – 27 June 2014) was a Lebanese politician and former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, kin of one of the most eminent

Sunni Muslim 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 Musli ...

families in the country several of whose members became prime ministers, and that was originally from

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

but later moved its civil-records to

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

Career

Solh was elected to the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

as an MP for the first time in

in 1960 and was appointed by then

President of Lebanon The president of the Lebanese Republic () is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliament for a term of six years, which cannot be renewed immediately because they can only be renewed non-consecutively. By convention, ...

Suleiman Frangieh Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh (15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 5th president of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976. Early life and education Suleiman Frangieh was a scion of one of the leading Maronites, Maronite f ...

as prime minister in 1974. Solh resigned from office on 15 May 1975, a few weeks after the outbreak of the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

.Lebanese Premier Resigns
''The Telegraph'' (16 May 1975) Following the resignation of the government of

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 ...

in May 1992, President

Elias Hrawi Elias Hrawi (; 4 September 1926 – 7 July 2006) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 10th president of Lebanon from 1989 to 1998. Early life and education Hrawi was born on 4 September 1926 in Hawch Al Umara, Zahlé, to a wealthy landow ...

was forced to form a new government and to hold the first parliamentary elections since the end of the civil war. The elections were boycotted ''en masse'' by the main Christian political parties who cited election fraud and corruption, and his term as prime minister lasted only five months. In 1996, Rachid Solh resigned from the Lebanese government and political life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solh, Rachid 1926 births 2014 deaths Rachid Prime ministers of Lebanon Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Place of birth missing Interior ministers of Lebanon People of the Lebanese Civil War Lebanese Sunni politicians