Elias Skaff is a Lebanese politician, leader of the "Popular Bloc".

Background

Elias Skaff is the son of the late deputy and ex-minister Joseph Tohme Skaff. Skaff studied in Zahle and then in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. He graduated in Agronomy from the American University of Beirut

American University of Beirut

The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...

in 1975.

Political career

Skaff was elected to the Parliament in 1992 as head of the Popular Bloc list, as well as in 1996, 2000 and 2005. He was appointed Minister of Industry in 2003, and then Minister of Agriculture in 2004. He also participated in the sessions of National Dialogue in his capacity as Head of the Parliamentary Popular Bloc in 2006.