Maarouf Saad

In 1957, Saad was elected to represent Sidon in the Parliament of Lebanon, beating his opponent Nazih al-Bizri.[8] In 1958, tensions between the mostly Muslim and Druze opposition and the mostly Christian supporters of President Camille Chamoun—stemming from Chamoun's enmity with the United Arab Republic (a union between Egypt and Syria established in February), the government's attempts at containing political opposition, and the deployment of the US Sixth Fleet—erupted into countrywide civil strife in May.[6] Saad was among many Lebanese notables from the United National Front opposition coalition to have visited Damascus and congratulated UAR President Nasser on the union's formation.[9]

Saad used his Lebanese support base and allied Palestinian militias to gather arms and organize a defense of Sidon from government control, which he accomplished with ease. He headed a central command that oversaw an array of committees such as security, courts, military training and propaganda. With over 1,000 militiamen under his command, Saad led successful skirmishes against pro-government forces and prevented all government attempts at entering Sidon for the five-month duration of the crisis. While he frequently dispatched some of his men to aid opposition forces in neighboring areas, Saad's forces rarely launched attacks against regions outside Sidon.[6] Saad regarded the 1958 crisis a "popular armed uprising", claiming the opposition was forced into it after initially advocating a general strike to pressure Chamoun to step down from the presidency.[6]

Saad (left) shaking hands with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in Cairo, July 1967.

In the 1968 election he won the highest number of votes for the Sidon seat, defeating Bizri for the fourth consecutive time.[10] While Bizri gained the support of most of the city's middle and upper classes and had the backing of the government, Saad—who normally represented the opposition to the national government—drew substantial support from Sidon's poorer residents.[1] During his time in parliament, Saad was noted for his support for the cause of social justice and the Palestinian right of return. In Sidon, Saad gained a reputation for being a staunch opponent of discrimination and promoter of a comprehensive peace and social justice in the country. He co-founded the international Assembly of World Peace and helped contribute to the Organization for Solidarity of Asian and African People.[11]

While Saad was one of the staunchest Lebanese supporters of the Palestinian cause, he was also a critic of the PLO guerrillas' increasingly defiant attempts to gain control over Sidon, where Saad was traditionally dominant. In 1969 he was sharply criticized by the as-Saiqa, a Syrian-backed faction of the PLO, for not agreeing to support their fighters during a shootout with the Lebanese Army.[12]

In August 1970, a group of PLO guerrillas from the Fatah and as-Saiqa factions based in the nearby Ain al-Hilweh camp came into conflict with Saad's Nasserist partisans, resulting in the death of one Nasserist fighter. The guerillas subsequently detained Saad in the camp and shut down his supporters' office in Sidon. A general strike in the area was declared as protest to Saad's detention and calls by incensed residents for the closing of guerrilla offices in Sidon were made. Saad was consequently released days later after intervention by an envoy sent by President Nasser.[12]

Saad lost the 1972 parliamentary election. He alleged that Prime Minister Saeb Salam's support for Bizri in retaliation for Saad's participation in anti-government protests prior to the election caused his defeat.[13] However, Salam's support for Bizri was only a partial reason for Saad's loss of votes. Another factor was that the roughly 1,000 voters of Palestinian origin in Sidon switched from their traditional support for Saad to Bizri during the election. By that time, the PLO had become much stronger in the area and did not require the political cover Saad had traditionally lent them. This became another source of tension between Saad and the PLO, who were then targeting Saad's traditional voting base: the pan-Arabist sympathizers of the Old City of Sidon and local leftists. This also contributed to the waning of Saad's reputation as the "man of the people" in the city.[12]

Saad had become the chairman of Sidon's municipal council in the early 1970s,[14] in effect becoming its mayor. However, Salam ordered the council dissolved in 1973 to Saad's protestations.[14] That year, Saad founded the Popular Nasserite Organization, a group espousing Arab nationalism and socialism in the tradition of Nasser,[5] who died in September 1970. He also headed Sidon's fishermen's union.[15] Relations between Sidon's residents and the government grew increasingly tense, partly a result of Saad's own increasingly antagonistic relationship with the national government.[5]