Who Is Salim Edde and Who Voted For Him?

During yesterday’s parliamentary session, our lawmakers convened to attempt to elect a president before Michel Aoun’s term ends on October 31st. An assembly of 122 MPs were in attendance, spreading their votes as follows:

Blank ballots – 63
Michel Mouawad – 36
Salim Edde – 11
Lebanon – 10
Mahsa Amini – 1
The path of Rachid Karami – 1

Many were surprised by the names that ended up being floated, such as the relatively unknown Salim Edde and the many cringeworthy “protest votes” that were also dished out.

All of us rn pic.twitter.com/Gh0JjRBpkZ

— Beirut.com (@BeirutCityGuide) September 29, 2022

Here’s what we found out about Edde:

Salim Edde was born in Beirut on January 31, 1959 to Michel Edde and Yola Doumit. His father was active in the Lebanese political scene, holding several ministerial positions before passing away in November 2019. He started his education at Notre Dame De Jamhour before receiving an engineering degree at Ecole Polytechnique, followed by a Master’s of Science in Chemical Engineering at MIT and a finance MBA at the University of Chicago.

He then went on to found Murex in Paris in 1986 alongside Laurent Neel, his three brothers, and his brother-in-law. The company provides financial software to banks and institutions around the world. Its second biggest office, after its Paris HQ, is Beirut, which is said to employ between 450-600 employees. Edde is also a shareholder in Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Le Jour and founder of the MIM Mineral Museum.

Salim Edde’s 11 presidential votes came from the Forces of Change bloc in parliament. A journey to the presidential palace seems unlikely for Edde, as the main battle seems set to be between Michel Moawad and the opposing camp’s candidate, which may be Sleiman Frangieh. There are also whispers of an agreement on Head of the Army General Joseph Aoun being a compromise candidate.

The two women who announced their candidature before the session, received no votes.