Élias Sarkis (Arabic: إلياس سركيس; 20 July 1924 – 27 June 1985) was a Lebanese lawyer and politician who served as the 6th president of Lebanon from 1976 to 1982.

[1] Élias Sarkis was born in Chebanieh, a mixed Christian-Druze mountain village, to a shopkeeping family on 20 July 1924.

[5] Sarkis contested the presidential election of 1970 as Chehab's protégé and was expected to win but was defeated by Suleiman Frangieh by a single vote.

[10][11] The election was held in the Versailles-style Esseily Villa, a private residence in Southeastern Beirut, since The National Assembly building was not safe due to ongoing attacks and battle.

[14] When Sarkis effectively began to serve as the President, he could not forge a lasting accommodation between Christian and Muslim factions.

[6] Several nationalist and leftist political parties and organizations created the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) under the leadership of Kamal Jumblatt in 1976.

The conservative forces led by the Christian Kataeib (Phalange) Party was another block called the Lebanese Front.

The LNM, on the other hand, was too dependent on the Palestinians and unable to initiate a political negotiation process in ceasing the civil war.

[7] In addition, Sarkis formed the rescue committee in 1982 to make arrangements regarding the results of the Israeli invasion.

Amine Gemayel, Bachir's brother, was subsequently elected in his stead, and Sarkis handed the presidency over to him on 23 September 1982.