Michel Murr

Michel Murr (Arabic: ميشال المرّ‎, 29 September 1932 – 31 January 2021) was a Lebanese politician and businessman. He served as deputy prime minister and interior minister and was a prominent and powerful lawmaker in the Northern Metn region.[1]

Michel El Murr
Born(1932-09-29)29 September 1932
Metn, Greater Lebanon, French Mandate of Lebanon of the Third French Republic
Died31 January 2021(2021-01-31) (aged 88)
Lebanon
NationalityLebanese
OccupationEngineer, politician and businessman
RelativesGabriel Murr (brother)
May Murr (sister)
Elias Murr (son)
Mirna Murr (daughter)
Gebran Tueni (former son−in−law)
Nayla Tueni (granddaughter)
Lebanon
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Lebanon
Constitution
Executive
Legislature
Political parties
Elections
Foreign relations
Other issues
 Lebanon portal

Early life and education

Michel Murr was born to a Greek Orthodox Christian family in the Matn District village of Bteghrine in 1932.[2][3] He studied engineering at St Joseph University and graduated in 1955.[3]

Political career

Michel Murr lived in West Africa during much of the 1960s and made a sizable fortune there in the construction industry.[2] He returned to Lebanon and then was elected to parliament in 1968 by aligning himself with Pierre Gemayel who dominated politics in the predominantly Maronite Christian Metn district.[3] Murr lost his reelection bid in 1972, a defeat which he is said to have blamed on Gemayel.[2]

After the 1975–76 Civil war, he supported the Phalange Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) militia and its successor, the Lebanese Forces (LF) led by Bashir Gemayel, but not its "Arabist" camp, along with Karim Pakradouni. In the mid-1980s, he supported the pro-Syrian LF faction of Elie Hobeika and participated in the negotiation of the Tripartite Accord, an agreement signed by Hobeika, Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt and Amal leader Nabih Berri that would have legalized the Syrian presence in Lebanon.[2] Hobeika and Murr were subsequently ousted from the LF leadership by Samir Geagea. They spent the rest of the war years in Syrian-controlled Zahlé, waiting for the day when Damascus would complete its occupation of Lebanon.[2]

Following Syria's takeover of Beirut in October 1990, he was rewarded for his loyalty to the Syrians and assumed the post of interior minister.[4] Then he also served as deputy prime minister.[5] When he was in office, he openly cooperated with the Syrian authorities.[5] Murr was also appointed interior minister to the cabinet led by then prime minister Salim Hoss in 1998.[6] Murr continued to serve in this post until 2000 when his son Elias Murr replaced him.[4] Before the general elections of 2000, the Metn district was designed by Syrian and Lebanese authorities to facilitate Murr's election victory.[7]

He was the leader of the Metn Bloc that is an independent political party.[8]

Personal life

His son, Elias Murr, married Karine Lahoud, the daughter of then-army commander Emile Lahoud in 1992.[2] Later they divorced.[9] Michel Murr is the grandfather of Lebanese politician Nayla Tueni and ex-father-in-law of late Gebran Tueni.[10]

Death

On the morning of 31 January 2021, the National News Agency (NNA) announced that El Murr had died due to complications from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12]

See also

References
  1. January 2021, Naharnet Newsdesk 31; 13:26. "Veteran Politician Michel Murr Dies from Covid-19". Naharnet. Retrieved 31 January 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. Abdelnour, Ziad K. (June 2003). "Michel and Elias Murr". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 5 (6). Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  3. Rola el Husseini (2004). "Lebanon: Building political dynasties". In Volker Perthes (ed.). Arab Elites: Negotiating the Politics of Change. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 9781588262660. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. Ferran Izquierdo Brichs (27 November 2012). Political Regimes in the Arab World: Society and the Exercise of Power. Routledge. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-136-24087-4. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  5. Nisan, Mordechai (1999). "Christian Decline and Models of Lebanon" (PDF). ACPR. 83. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  6. Blanford, Nicholas (1 February 1999). "All change in Lebanon". The Middle East. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  7. Gambill, Gary C.; Elie Abou Aoun (August 2000). "Special Report: How Syria Orchestrates Lebanon's Elections". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 2 (7). Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  8. "Lebanon Government Profile 2012". Index Mundi. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  9. "Siniora-Murr Spat Nearly Splits Cabinet, But – Miraculously – Escapes Media Attention". Wikileaks. 17 May 2006. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  10. "Veteran Politician Michel Murr Dies from Covid-19". Naharnet. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  11. NNA. "The death of MP Michel Murr". Retrieved 31 January 2021. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. The961·Obituary·31 January; 2021 (31 January 2021). "Michel Murr Just Passed Away At 88 Years Old". The961. Retrieved 31 January 2021.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.