Kamel Asaad

Kamel El Assaad (or Kamel Al Asaad) (10 February 1932 – 25 July 2010) was a Lebanese politician. Kamel el-Asaad (Arabic: كامل الأسعد‎) served starting early 1960 as Deputy of Bint Jbeil, replacing his father Ahmed al-Asaad and then held the parliamentary seat of Hasbaya-Marjayoun from 1964 and 1992. He was elected Speaker of the House of the Lebanese Parliament several times, May to October 1964, May to October 1968, with his final stint from 1970 to 1984.[1] Assaad chaired the parliamentary sessions, which saw the election of presidents Elias Sarkis, Bachir Gemayel, and Amine Gemayel. Asaad left politics in 1984 after Syria's intervention in Lebanon's internal political policies related to the ratification of the Agreement of May 17, 1984, between Israel and Lebanon, and the period of political crisis which followed.

Kamel Asaad كامل الأسعد
Minister of Education & Fine Arts
In office 31 October 1961 – 20 February 1964
Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon
In office 8 May 1964 – 20 October 1964
Preceded by	Sabri Hamadé
Succeeded by	Sabri Hamadé
Minister of Health / Minister of Water and Electricity Resources
In office 31 October 1961 – 20 February 1964
Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon
In office 9 April 1966 – 6 December 1966
Preceded by	Sabri Hamadé
Succeeded by	Sabri Hamadé
Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon
In office 20 October 1970 – 16 October 1984
Preceded by	Sabri Hamadé
Succeeded by	Hussein el-Husseini
Personal details
Born	(1932-02-10)10 February 1932
Died	25 July 2010(2010-07-25) (aged 78)
Nationality	Lebanese
Political party	Lebanese Social Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Ghada al Kharsa (divorced) Lina Saad (2nd marriage)

He was the founder and president of the Lebanese Social Democratic Party (Arabic: الحزب الديمقراطي الاشتراكي‎). He also had ministerial positions in two Lebanese governments serving as Minister of Education and Fine Arts from October 1961 to February 1964, and as Minister of Health and Minister of Water and Electricity Resources from April to December 1966.

After serving as a Member of Parliament and its Speaker several times, Asaad later ran for public office but failed to get elected in the Lebanese elections in 1992, 1996 and 2000, in the face of pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian political groups Amal and Hezbollah lists, and called for a boycott of the elections in 2005. He died in 2010, at the age of 78.[2]

Personal life

Coming from a large feudal Shia family from southern Lebanon, Kamel Asaad held the title of "Bakaweit" (title of nobility plural of "Beik" granted to a few wealthy families in Lebanon in the early eighteenth century). He completed his Elementary and Secondary studies at Ecole de la Sagesse (Arabic: مدرسة الحكمة‎) in Beirut, and continued with a Law degree from the University of Paris.[3]

His father Ahmed al-Asaad preceded his son as speaker of the Lebanese Parliament from June 1951 to May 1953. His mother was Fatima al Asaad.[4]

He married Ghada al Kharsaa and the couple had three children, Ahmed, a son, and Iman and Maha, two daughters. After their divorce, he married Lina Saad with whom he had three more sons: the twin brothers Khalil and Abdellatif and then a third son, Wael.[4]

Lina Kamel el Assaad, his widow, continues to head the Lebanese Social Democratic Party, the party he established.

Kamel Asaad's son, Ahmed Asaad, established the political party Lebanese Option (Arabic: حزب الإنتماء اللبناني‎). He was a candidate for a seat in the Lebanese Parliament in the elections of 2009,[5] but failed to win against a stronger list of Amal-Hezbollah alliance.

References

1. (in Arabic)Republic of Lebanon - House of Representatives History
2. Former Speaker Kamel al-Asaad dies at age 78.
3. Fouad Ajami, The Vanished Imam: Musa al-Sadr and the Shi'a of Lebanon (Itahac: Cornell University Press, 1986) p. 69
4. Great Men from Lebanon website - Kamel Asaad page
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2010-07-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)