Hussein Hajj Hassan (Arabic: حسين الحاج حسن; born 1960) is a Lebanese politician and minister of industry.
Hussein Hajj Hassan | |
|---|---|
 Hussein Hajj Hassan, 2016 | |
| Minister of Industry | |
| In office 15 February 2014 – 31 January 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Tammam Salam Saad Hariri |
| Preceded by | Panos Manjian |
| Succeeded by | Wael Abou Faour |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 9 November 2009 – 15 February 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Saad Hariri Najib Mikati |
| Preceded by | Elias Skaff |
| Succeeded by | Akram Chehayeb |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 23, 1960 Al-Nabi Shayth, Lebanon |
| Political party | Hezbollah |
| Alma mater | University of Orléans |
Early life and education
Hajj Hassan was born into a Shia family in the Beqaa Valley in 1960. He holds a PhD in molecular biophysical chemistry, which he received from the University of Orléans, France in 1987.
Political career and views
Hajj Hassan is a member of the Lebanese Shia party Hezbollah.[1] He ran on the latter's electoral list in Lebanon's 1996 general election and was elected MP of the Beqaa's Baalbeck/Hermel constituency. In May 1998, he argued that although Islamic state is an ideal solution, Hezbollah is aware of its inapplicability in Lebanon.[2]
He was reelected in the 2000, 2005 and 2009 polls.[3][4] In 2009, he was among Hezbollah's 11 members of parliament.[5] In June 2009, he met with the then European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Beirut, representing Hezbollah.[5] From 2000 to 2005 he led the parliamentary commission on agriculture and tourism. He is part of the "Loyalty to the Resistance", an opposition parliamentary bloc.[6]
He was named on 9 November 2009 minister of agriculture in Saad Hariri's national unity government.[7] In January 2011, he and other two ministers, Gebran Bassil and Mohamad Jawad Khalifeh, resigned from the cabinet, leading to the collapse of Hariri government.[8]
He was appointed to Najib Mikati's cabinet again as a minister of agriculture in June 2011.[9]