Lawyer Fadi Masri won on Sunday the race to succeed Nader Gaspard as the President of the Beirut Bar Association. With 1,973 votes and a 23-vote margin over his opponent Abdo Lahoud (1,950 votes), the new President of the Bar Association, supported mainly by the Kataeb, benefited from discreet political parties’ support in the second round.
Many voters from the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), the Amal movement and Hezbollah voted for him after “losing” their respective candidates, Fadi Haddad and Chawki Chreim, in the first round. Their motive? To prevent the Lebanese Forces (LF) candidate, Abdo Lahoud, who was also supported by the Future Movement, from becoming president of the Beirut Bar Association.
At the end of the first round of voting for the members of the Bar Council, the following six lawyers received the highest scores: Labib Harfouche (independent—2,264 votes), Abdo Lahoud (Lebanese Forces—2,031 votes), Fadi Masri (Kataeb—1,929 votes), Elie Klimos (independent—1,869 votes), Iskandar Elias (independent—1,843 votes) and Wajih Massaad (independent—1,531 votes). Alexandre Najjar was elected alternate member with 1,528 votes, as he was unable to stand in the second round and run for the presidency of the Order.
Labib Harfouche and Elie Klimos ran for election as members of the Bar Council, while Iskandar Elias and Wajih Massaad sought the post of President of the Bar. However, in light of the results of the first round, the two candidates for the presidency, who came in fifth and sixth respectively, were not allowed to stand in the second round. According to the Order’s internal regulations, only the first four winners may stand for the presidency of the Order and participate in the second round of elections.
Who Is Fadi Masri?
Born in Beirut on 7 November 1970, Fadi Masri studied at Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour and then at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut. After graduating in law in 1992, he joined the Beirut Bar in 1993 and was admitted to the Bar in 1996 after completing his internship at the law firm of Fadi Ziadeh. He set up his own practice in the center of the city in 2010.
He was elected to the Bar Council in November 2021 and appointed Rapporteur for trainee lawyers.
His involvement with the Bar Association dates back to his appointment to the Commercial Register Commission. A founding member of the Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA), the Legal Committee of the Lebanese Olympic Commission and the Legal Committee of the Alumni Association of Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour, Masri is the author of several legal, political and cultural articles.
