Bahij Tabbara

Following his graduation Tabbara began to work as a lawyer from 1954.^[1] He was also the private lawyer and legal adviser of future Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.^[3][4] He taught at Lebanese University and Saint Joseph University in Beirut.^[1]

Between April and June 1973, Tabbara was the minister of economy and commerce in the cabinet led by the prime minister, Amin Al Hafez.^[5] The appointment of Tabbara and another Sunni Zakariya Nsouli caused controversy in the general public and they were forced to resign.^[5] They both resigned from the office together with Al Hafez.^[5] Tabbara was involved in drafting the election law of Lebanon in the 1990s.^[6] On 31 October 1992, he was named as the minister of justice in the first cabinet of Rafik Hariri.^[7] Tabbara held the post in the subsequent cabinets of Hariri until December 1998.^[2] He was the minister of state for administrative reform between 2001 and 2003.^[2] He was again appointed minister of justice in 2003^[8] and held the post for one year.^[2]

In 2005, Tabbara was elected to parliament from the Future Movement.^[1] The same year, after the assassination of Rafic Hariri, he was cited as one of the potential candidates for the premiership.^[9] In May 2019, he was also proposed as the prime minister following the resignation of the Lebanese government led by Saad Hariri, but he declined the offer.^[10]

In addition to his academic and political activities Tabbara was one of the shareholders of the companies, mostly real estate companies, owned by Rafik Hariri.^[3][11]

Tabbara married Hoda Kyriakos Saad, a lawyer, and they have three children.^[1][2] He is the author of several books and articles on legal topics.^[1]