Abdel Latif El Zein

Abdel Latif El Zein (born November 23, 1932) is a Lebanese politician, and has been serving as Member of Parliament since 1960. He is the longest-serving member of parliament in the world. He previously held the position of Minister of Agriculture. He is the son of Youssef Beik El-Zein, a prominent Lebanese figure. Two of his brothers also previously served as Members of Parliament: Abdelkarim El-Zein and Abdelmajid El-Zein. The 2009 parliament is repeating history. Following the 1953 legislative elections the eldest Member of Parliament at the time was Youssef El-Zein who headed the opening parliament session for electing the parliament speaker. The youngest elected Member of Parliament in that year was Ghassan Tueni. 56 years later elected MP Abdelatif El-Zein is parliament's eldest member who is scheduled to play the same role his father Youssef did in 1953. In an additional coincidence elected Beirut 1 MP Nayla Tueni is now one of parliament's youngest members as her grandfather Ghassan was in 1953. Hence, history repeats itself 56 years later.