He served as minister of interior and municipalities, considered to be one of the most powerful positions in the country, from 2008 to 2011 for two consecutive cabinets in both Fuad Siniora and Saad Hariri's governments.
[2] During his mandate as minister of interior, Baroud was credited for pushing forward a culture of responsibility and openness where he made himself easily accessible to all Lebanese citizens eager to share complaints and/or opinions, and was widely present in day-to-day activities of his subordinates.
Baroud was also credited with overseeing Lebanon's best-managed round of elections to date in 2009, which he orchestrated in one day instead of the conventional four weekends, a record in Lebanese history.
[3] On 26 May 2011, Baroud resigned from office as minister of interior and municipalities in Saad Hariri's government after an inter-party conflict developed between the Internal Security Forces and the Ministry of Telecommunications in Lebanon.
[7] Ziyad Baroud was born on 29 April 1970 in Jeita, Keserwan into Maronite family of Selim and Antoinette (née Salem).
Baroud completed his high school education at Collège Saint Joseph – Antoura des Pères Lazaristes from which he graduated in 1988.
While working in the office of Najjar, Baroud contributed along with a handful of judges and fellow lawyers to the drafting of a legal monthly supplement in An-Nahar "Houqouq Annas" (Ar: حقوق الناس) or "People's Rights", the first of its kind, designed to familiarize people with judiciary rights and jargon and promote the implementation and modernization of Lebanese laws with the aim of bringing more justice to society.
Decentralization Baroud worked as a research associate at the "Lebanese Center for Policy Studies", a Beirut-based think tank of which he is a board member today.
Ziyad Baroud, who had been engaged in serious national struggles for democratization for over 15 years, stood out as a professional and committed civil society activist.
Baroud successively served for a second term under Prime Minister Saad Hariri's cabinet which lasted from 9 Nov 2009 to 13 June 2011, though he had resigned on 26 May 2011.
Working closely with NGOs that promote road safety and injury prevention, notably the Youth Association for Social Awareness (YASA) and Kun Hadi (Arabic for "Be Calm", as well as a play on the word "Hadi" which is the name of a young man who died in a speeding car accident and namesake of the organization), one of Baroud's first undertakings as minister was to impose traffic laws, including seatbelt enforcement and speed limits compliance.
Time magazine published an article citing the importance of Baroud's undertakings regarding traffic laws: "Unable to solve the big problems facing the country, Ziad Baroud, Suleiman's choice to lead the powerful Ministry of the Interior, began focusing on problems that might actually make a difference in the lives of average Lebanese.
"[11] Being an avid civil society activist and a human rights campaigner, Baroud has been known to support and actively encourage the work of Lebanon's Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
[12] Baroud thus issued a circular in February 2009 decreeing that every Lebanese citizen was now free to cross out his/her religious identity from all official documents, and replace it with a slash sign (/) if they desire.
While the process fell short of several of Lebanon's international commitments, most notably secrecy of the ballot, they stated that "it was conducted with enhanced transparency."
[18] The elections results, though acknowledged transparent and constitutional by both the Carter Center[19] and the European Union,[20] caused turmoil and resistance on behalf of the 8 March blockade who once again were not happy with the minority stake they would have in the cabinet.
Thus, theoretically, the ministers selected by President Sleiman, considered impartial, hold the balance of power in cabinet with a swing vote on decision-making.
Due to the highly politicized and contentious atmosphere, Baroud's freedom of action as a Minister was severely reduced because of political wranglings he refused to get involved in.
The dispute escalated into an 8 – 14 March diplomatic proxy war that was unlawfully fought on grounds belonging to Minister Baroud's jurisdiction.
It is said that Baroud had come close to resigning on multiple occasions prior to this event, but was prevented from doing so by President Sleiman, who needed a trustworthy ally in this all-important ministry.
[citation needed] His reputation extends to political leaders, with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai describing him as "a national minister and the hope for every Lebanese person.