Monday, June 06, 2005

Dr. El-Khazen: The Silent Player

We always see him in every Qornet Shehwan Gathering (except for the past few), whispering in the ear of this or that politician; he never read out a statement, nor appeared on TV as a Qornet Shehwan member. Who is this figure, who is this silent player?

Dr. Farid El-Khazen! He has decided to run in Kissirwan under the Aoun list. Perhaps that might have explained his absence in the Gatherings' last couple of meetings.

I wish him luck. He's been almost "absent" from his AUB post as a head of the Political Studies and Public Administration Department. Is he going to continue as a professor? Perhaps not. Who will take over, now that the likes of Dr. Judith Harik have left and Dr. Yahya Sadowski are leaving? (concerned questions as a PSPA alumnus)

I look forward to watching, reading, and listening to Dr. El-Khazen campaigning, eager to see what he has got to say. In my mind, he has always been a quiet person, always an academic. And I wonder how he sees events at this moment in our country and why he has left Qornet Shehwan.


"Nobody knows how many rebellions, besides political rebellions, ferment in the masses of life which people earth."

5 comments:

Charles Malik said...

Khazen did deliver a speech on March 14, but it wasn't really that great. He seemed overwhelmed by the crowd.
However, he did generate a big headline by calling for a Syrian Embassy in Beirut and a Lebanese Embassy in Damascus.

I was surprised that Khazen joined the Aoun list. He is close to the Lebanese Forces. But it seems some other people had pick before him.

On the PSPA Chair, Roman Kulchitsky is Acting Chair at the moment. If Khazen loses, he will probably come back. If he wins...

Mustapha said...

I used to respect him..
..until he extended for president Lahhoud and joined the Karami Government..
He backtracked by resigning after the Hariri murder, but i'm still not comfortable with him..

Master Blaster said...

Mustapha, you're thinking about another Farid Khazen. He's the cousin of Dr. Farid Khazen, I think. But it's not the same guy.

Anonymous said...

Dr Farid El Khazen is not close to any political group. He is an independent minded, mainly reformist political thinker. This does not, however, mean he is a revolutionary. As a matter of fact, Dr Khazen has great respect for Lebanon's former reformist president General Fouad Chehab, who is credited with building all the modern institutions that Lebanon today enjoys.

Anonymous said...

isn't this accurate assessment of Fouad Shehab's presidency? A stronger role for the security forces?
This is a documented fact. This however does not diminish Khazen's respect for the man