Zaki Mazboudi (Arabic: زكي مزبودي; 1920–2000) was a Lebanese politician, lawyer and economist. He served as government minister twice and represented the third constituency of Beirut in the Parliament of Lebanon 1972–1992.

Education and career

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He was born in 1920.[1][2]

Mazboudi studied at the Faculty of Law at Sorbonne.[1][2] Moreover, he obtained a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris in 1951.[1] Mazboudi worked at the Ministry of Finance between 1948 and 1966.[1] He represented the Lebanese government abroad on multiple occasions; he was a member of Lebanese delegations to the Arab League Economic Council between 1961 and 1965, headed the Lebanese delegation in talks with the French government over a Double Taxation Agreement and in 1963 he negotiated an agreement with the UAR government on Lebanese properties that had been nationalized in Egypt.[1][3] In 1963 he was included in a committee dedicated to study relations between Lebanon and the European Economic Community.[1] In 1964 he co-founded the Development Studies Association along with Charles Rizk and Hassan Saab; an organization that promoted multi-disciplinary approach to planning issues in Lebanon and was active until 1988.[4]

Between 1966 and 1972 he served as the Secretary General of the Agriculture, Industry and Real Estate Development Bank.[1] As of 1965 he served as General Financial Inspector of the Beirut Municipality.[5]

Mazboudi served on the Makassed Board between 1966 and 1973.[6]

Entry into politics

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Mazboudi entered politics in 1968, standing as an independent candidate for one of the Sunni seats in the 1968 Lebanese general election in Beirut III.[2][7] He was not elected, having obtained 9,396 votes.[2][7]

He again contested the 1972 Lebanese general election in Beirut III, as a candidate on the list of Saeb Salam.[6][8] He was elected to parliament, having received 16,489 votes.[6]

Parliamentarian and minister

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Mazboudi served as minister of planning 1974–1975.[1][9] Mazboudi was one of four cabinet ministers that resigned from the government on May 12, 1975, along with Joseph Skaff (Defence), Adel Osseiran (Justice) and Suleiman Ali (Agriculture).[10] In the midst of the Lebanese Civil War, he served as Special Envoy of President Elias Sarkis 1976–1982.[8]

He was a member of the Islamic Gathering, Islamic Encounter, Democratic Parliamentary Front and the Independent Parliamentary Gathering factions in the Lebanese parliament.[8] He took part in the Taif Agreement talks.[8]

Mazboudi served as Minister of National Education and Fine Arts in the 1992 cabinet of Rachid Solh.[11] He lost his parliamentary seat in the 1992 Lebanese general election.[8] Following the election, Mazboudi retired from politics.[8]

Mazboudi died from a heart attack on December 3, 2000.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h The International Who's who of the Arab World. International Who's Who of the Arab World Ltd. 1984. p. 352.
  2. ^ a b c d Jalal Zuwiyya (1972). The Parliamentary Election of Lebanon 1968. Brill Archive. pp. 22–23. GGKEY:9HE6AZ8A2BE.
  3. ^ Chronology of Arab Politics. Political Studies and Public Administration Department of the American University of Beirut. 1963. p. 364.
  4. ^ Hiba Bou Akar (11 September 2018). For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut's Frontiers. Stanford University Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-5036-0561-9.
  5. ^ L'Argus de la presse libanaise. Bureau des documentations libanaises et arabes. 1965. p. 2.
  6. ^ a b c Michael Johnson (1986). Class & Client in Beirut: The Sunni Muslim Community and the Lebanese State, 1840-1985. Ithaca Press. pp. 112, 163. ISBN 978-0-86372-062-8.
  7. ^ a b The Monthly. The 1968 Parliamentary Elections : Beirut Mohafaza[dead link]
  8. ^ a b c d e f g L'Orient Le Jour. Décès de Zaki Mazboudi
  9. ^ Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments. The Center. 1974. p. 41.
  10. ^ News Review on West Asia. 1975. p. 636.
  11. ^ The Monthly. Post-Taëf Lebanese Governments. 2017