# Cabinet of Amin Hafez

The cabinet led by Prime Minister Amin Hafez was one of the short-lived cabinets of Lebanon. It was inaugurated on 25 April 1973, succeeding the cabinet led by Saeb Salam who resigned on 10 April 1973. The tenure of the Hafez cabinet ended on 18 June 1973 following the Parliament's motion of no confidence.

## Overview

Prime Minister Saeb Salam and his cabinet resigned on 10 April 1973 when the Mossad agents attacked the headquarters of Palestinians in Beirut and killed three Palestinians who were leading members of the Fatah. Upon this incident due to pressures from the Sunni community Salam requested the dismissal of the commander of the Lebanese army, Iskandar Ghanem, which was not accepted by the President Suleiman Frangieh. Because Ghanem was a close ally of Frangieh and a Maronite.
Frangieh first asked Rashid Karami and then Abdallah Yafi to establish a new cabinet, but both declined his proposal. Then he asked Amin Hafez to form the cabinet, and he was given the task on 18 April 1973. Hafez was an academic and did not hold any cabinet post, but had been a member of the Lebanese Parliament since 1960 representing Tripoli. At the Parliament he was part of the group headed by Rashid Karami. Hafez had good relations with other political leaders such as Kamal Jumblatt, Kamel Asaad and the outgoing Prime Minister Saeb Salem who supported his appointment. In fact, it was Kamal Jumblatt who proposed his premiership to Suleiman Frangieh. However, just before the announcement of the cabinet members the violence between the Lebanese army and the Palestine Liberation Army intensified due to the Israeli attack mentioned above. Because of these tensions the leading supporters of Hafez demanded his resignation to reduce the capacity of President Frangieh to attack against Palestinians. Hafez did not approve their request stating that as a prime minister he could diminish these attacks.

## Cabinet members

The cabinet was composed of 17 members which were announced on 25 April. Only six members were newcomers, and the others served in the previous cabinet. Their distribution based on the sectarian affiliation was as follows: Armenian Orthodox (1); Druze (1); Greek Catholic (2); Greek Orthodox (2); Maronite (4); Shiite (3) and Sunni (4).

## List of ministers

The cabinet was made up of the following members:
| Portfolio | Minister | Took office | Left office | Party |
| Prime Minister | Amin Hafez | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Deputy Prime Minister | Fouad Ghosn | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Marada Movement |
| Minister of Finance | Fouad Naffah | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Interior | Bashir Al Awar | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Justice | Kazem Khalil | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | National Liberal Party |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants | Khalil Abou Hamad | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of National Defense | Fouad Ghosn | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Marada Movement |
| Minister of Housing and Cooperatives | Michel Sassine | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of National Education and Fine Arts | Edmond Rizk | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Kataeb Party |
| Minister of Information and Public Health | Amin Hafez | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Labour and Social Affairs | Emile Rouhana Sakr | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Industry and Petroleum | Zakariya Nsouli | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Agriculture | Fahmi Chahine | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Economy and Commerce | Bahij Tabbara | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Electrical and Hydraulic Resources | Joseph Skaff | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Popular Bloc |
| Minister of Public Works and Transportation | Najib Alameddine | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of Post, Telegraph and Telephone | Tony Frangieh | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Marada Movement |
| Minister of Tourism | Ali Al Khalil | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Independent |
| Minister of General Planning | Khatchig Babikian | 25 April 1973 | 18 June 1973 | Armenian Revolutionary Federation |

## Motion of no confidence

On 12 June 1973 the Parliament met for the voting of confidence session. At least 51 members of the Parliament should vote in favor of the cabinet, but 32 members boycotted the voting session and four members did not attend it due to several reasons. Interestingly, two members of the cabinet, Bahij Tabbara and Zakariya Nsouli, did also not attend the session. Next day they submitted their resignations to the President. Takieddine Al Solh was designated to form a new cabinet on 18 July 1973.