Faisal Karami


Faisal Omar Karami is a Lebanese politician. He served as the minister of youth and sports in the cabinet of Najib Mikati between 2011 and 2014, and a member of Parliament since 2018.

Early life and education

Karami was born into Sunni family in Tripoli on 26 September 1971. His father is Omar Karami who was one of the former Prime Ministers of Lebanon. He is also the nephew of Rashid Karami, who served as prime minister for ten terms, assassinated by Samir Geagea. 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. The reason for the conflict was that Hezbollah had explicitly asked Mikati to assign Faisal Karami as one of the ministers. However, Mikati initially refused this proposal. Mikati argued that if Karami became minister, three of the five seats would be taken by natives of Tripoli, 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’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. One of the gunmen was wounded and later arrested.