Speaker of The Lebanese Parliament
Adel Osseiran was voted speaker of the Lebanese Parliament on August 13, 1953, and held that post until October 15, 1959. During the mini-Civil War of 1958 he played a significant role in ending the riots and disturbances and securing the election of General Fouad Chehab as President of the Republic. He did so by calling Parliament into session to elect the new president, despite pressure not to do so from then President Camille Chamoun.
Earlier on, he had angered President Chamoun by vocally opposing the landing of the US Marines in Lebanon, and lodging a formal protest on the subject with the UN Secretary General in New York as well as with US President Dwight Eisenhower in Washington, DC.
Despite his early support for Fouad Chehab, Adel Osseiran later grew distant from the president and eventually joined the ranks of the opposition, mainly due to Chehab's suppression of civil liberties and his fostering of a de facto police state.
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