Ziyad Baroud

Who is Ziyad Baroud?

Ziyad Baroud is a Lebanese civil servant and prominent civil society activist. He served as minister of interior and municipalities, considered to be one of the most powerful positions in the country, from 2008 to 2011 for two consecutive cabinets in both Fuad Siniora and Saad Hariri's governments.

Owing in large part to his industrious work ethics, his unchanged middle-class status and his political impartiality, Ziyad Baroud is widely considered to be one of the most popular politicians in the country today. Baroud is also one of the few political personalities who is appreciated by both ends of the rivaled Lebanese political clan and thus, subsequently holds good esteem with many of the personas across the complex and contentious Lebanese political spectrum.

An attorney by formation and practice, Baroud is a renowned expert on issues of decentralization and electoral law reform. He is known to abstain from engaging in feudal politics, and to focus instead on building the Lebanese civil society and Lebanese civil institutions. During his mandate as minister of interior, Baroud was credited for pushing forward a culture of responsibility and openness where he made himself easily accessible to all Lebanese citizens eager to share complaints and/or opinions, and was widely present in day-to-day activities of his subordinates. His actions resulted in an unpremeditated cultivation of a very attractive public image that he still possesses today.