Nohad Jabr Elected New Head of Beirut Bar Association

The general assembly of the Beirut Bar Association on Sunday elected lawyer Nohad Jabr as the 48th chief of the association, after an electoral battle in which he competed with candidate Antonio al-Hashem, state-run National News Agency reported.

Jabr garnered 2,073 votes as al-Hashem received 1,623, after some 3,773 voters took part in the polls to choose a new chief for the association.

Seventy-two voters cast blank ballot papers, while six ballot papers were annulled.

Ahead of the battle for presidency, Jabr, al-Hashem, Georges Estephan and Pierre Hanna were elected as members of the association’s board, while lawyer Nabil Toubia was elected as a substitute.

“After these results, the March 14 forces decided to endorse Nohad Jabr for the president post, although Jabr was nominated by the lawyers committee of the Free Patriotic Movement for the association’s membership,” NNA said.

Those who failed to garner enough votes to make it into the association’s board were Georges Nakhleh (1,872 votes), Saeed Alameh (794 votes), Youssef al-Khatib (559 votes), Nabil Mshantaf (279 votes) and Wazneh Bitar (33 votes).

Some 4,475 voters took part in the board’s electoral process, with 33 blank ballot papers cast and 31 canceled.

After his victory, Jabr stressed that “the association is a unifying national forum, which has no concern other than the country’s sovereignty and its people’s freedom,” noting that he belongs to “the association, the lawyers and the nation.”

“I promise you that I will implement what I had pledged in my electoral platform,” Jabr added.