Assem Qanso عاصم قانصوه | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Qanso in 1974 | |
| Member of Parliament forBaalbek-Hermel | |
| In office 2009–2018 | |
| In office 1996–2005 | |
| Minister of Labour | |
| In office 2004–2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Omar Karami |
| Preceded by | Assaad Hardan |
| Succeeded by | Trad Hamadeh |
| Secretary of theLebanese (Ba'ath) Regional Command of theBa'ath Party | |
| In office 2000–2005 | |
| National Secretary | Abdullah al-Ahmar |
| Preceded by | Sayf al-Din Ghazi |
| Succeeded by | Sayf al-Din Ghazi |
| In office 1971–1989 | |
| National Secretary | Hafez al-Assad |
| Preceded by | Magali Nasrawin |
| Succeeded by | Abdullah Al-Amin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1937 (age 87–88) |
| Political party | Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (1953–1966) Syria-based Ba'ath Party (Lebanon branch: 1966–present) |
| Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
Assem Muhammad Qanso (Arabic:عاصم محمد قانصوه, born 1937) is aLebanese politician. He is a former leader of theLebanese Ba'ath Party.
Qanso joined the Lebanese Ba'ath in 1953. During theLebanese war, the Lebanese Ba'ath was divided into two hostile groups: apro-Iraqi group and apro-Syrian group. Qanso is staunchly pro-Syrian.
Relations between theKataeb Party and the Ba'ath Party improved when on the orders ofKarim Pakradouni (the leader of the Kataeb Party) and Qanso agreed to establish a committee between the two parties to discuss Lebanese and Arab politics. Relations improved further when the Syrian Ba'athist government increased its contacts with the Kataeb Party.[1] During the Lebanese civil war, the Lebanese parliament formed the National Dialogue Committee in 1975; Qanso was a National Dialogue Committee representative. Qanso opposed the notion that the resignation ofSuleiman Frangieh, thePresident of Lebanon, would end the conflict.[2]
Following the death ofHafez al-Assad in 2000, notable figures such asAbdul Halim Khaddam andGhazi Kanaan, supportedRafic Hariri againstÉmile Lahoud, the then sitting President of Lebanon, during the2000 general election.[3] Qanso supported Khaddam and Kanaan's position, and declared during a parliamentary session "there is no zaim [leader] but Rafik Hariri."[4] On a later occasion, he stated: "It was a message to Lahoud that, if he tried to break Hariri, Kanaan would break Lahoud."[4] He later changed his position and supported to extend Lahoud's mandate, and Qanso began criticising the opposition. Qanso warned Walid Jumblat that "you are not out of reach of our militants".[5] Jumblat replied by stating it was the Ba'ath Party which had ordered the assassination of his father,Kamal Jumblatt.[5]
There were discussions within the Ba'ath Party if Qanso was to give up his candidacy in theBaalbek-Hermel electoral district toFayez Shukr, the leader of the Ba'ath Party.[6] Qanso announced his candidacy for a seat in the Baalbek-Hermel electoral district in April 2009.[7] In the2009 parliamentary election, the Ba'ath Party won two seats as part of theMarch 8 Alliance; Qanso andKassem Hachem.[8] Qanso was elected to parliament in theBaalbek-Hermel district.[9] TheUnited States Government led byBarack Obama announced an extension of its travel ban and asset freeze against those seeking “to undermine Lebanon’s legitimate and democratically elected government.” Qanso was amongst those effected by the extension of sanctions.[10] The Ba'ath Party which supportsNajib Mikati, the then Prime Minister of Lebanon, claimed, through Qanso, that it "should have been represented in the [Mikati] government, just like theSyrian Social Nationalist Party”.[9]
Qanso supports the position of theUnited Nations Security Council which condemned the use of violence by the Ba'athist government, but which also called for ending the violence and holding those of fomenting the violence accountable.[11] The decision to expel Syria from theArab League was, according to Qanso, an American plot against Syria.[12] Qanso condemned the Arab League sanctions towards Syria, and compared them to "complementary to the US plot against Syria, which targets its oil wealth."[13] In an interview withMTV Lebanon Qanso accused a conspiracy centered around Lebanon First bloc MPOkab Sakr,Hani Hammoud, andSaad Hariri, formerPrime Minister of Lebanon, of fomenting the uprising in Syria. He further claimed that there was no good reason for the Assad government to resign.[14]
Qanso tried to persuade Mikati to expelMaura Connelly, theUnited States Ambassador to Lebanon, from the country in late 2011 because of the United States position towards Syria during the ongoing war.[15] In the beginning of January 2012 Qanso claimed thatal-Qaida had infiltrated more than 20 political organisations in Lebanon, this was in deep contrast to what Mikati stated when he claimed that Lebanon was "al-Qaida free".[16] Qanso further claimed that "If Syria falls, the last resistance bastion will turn into a state similar to that of Egypt or Libya and will become a breeding ground for Salafis and [theMuslim Brotherhood].[16] On 30 January Qanso stated his believes that "The vast majority of [Syrian] people are with the Ba'ath Party that is tasked with protecting Syrian President Bashar Assad.”[17] At the same time he announced that the Lebanese Ba'ath Party would hold a conference on 7–8 February 2012 in Syria to discuss and approve the reform package which is planned to be introduced byBashar al-Assad's government.[17]