Muhammad Baydoun was a moderate Lebanese politician who served as a member of the Lebanese parliament from 1992 until 2005. He died on 17 May 2022 due to an undisclosed illness.
He also served as minister of power and energy as recently as 2005. He participated in many rallies organized by the 14 March coalition.
Baydoun was born into a Shiite family in Bachoura, Beirut, on 5 February 1952. His family was originally from Bint Jbeil in South Lebanon.
Baydoun held a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Lebanese University and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France.
Baydoun worked as a mathematics professor at Lebanese University from 1976 to 1988. In 1980, he became a senior official of the Amal Movement.
He was named a member of Amal’s political bureau in 1982 and appointed president of the bureau on 14 October 1998. Baydoun is also a former president of Amal’s council of the south (1985-1991).
In 1991, he was appointed deputy from Amal and elected in the general election in 1992 and general election in 1996 for the Shi’ite seat in Tyre, South Lebanon. He also won his seat in the general election in 2000 receiving more votes than Hezbollah candidates.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Baydoun was a pro-Syrian politician, who had close ties with “old guards” in Damascus such as Hikmat Shihabi and Abdul Halim Khaddam.
In June 2008, Baydoun stated that Saad Hariri was unable to organize the Sunni community or defend it and build the institutions of the state.
The Shiite community of Lebanon has been dominated by a number of feudal families. Although Baydoun was not part of these families, he was among the individuals who have an influence on the Shiite community.
