{{Short description|Chilean politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Fuad Chahín | image = 180px | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1976|12|1}} | birth_place = Temuco, Chile | office = Member of the Constitutional Convention | constituency = 22nd District | term_start = 4 July 2021 | term_end = 2 July 2022 | office1 = President of the Christian Democratic Party | term_start1 = 18 May 2018 | term_end1 = 27 May 2021 | predecessor1 = Myriam Verdugo | successor1 = Carmen Frei | office2 = Member of the Chamber of Deputies | constituency2= 49th District | term_start2 = 11 March 2010 | term_end2 = 11 March 2018 | predecessor2 = Jaime Quintana | successor2 = Dissolution of the District | office3 = Regional Counseller of the Government for the Araucanía Region | term_start3 = January 2002 | term_end3 = March 2003 | party = Christian Democratic Party<br/>Democrats | alma_mater = University of Chile (LL.B) | occupation = Politician | profession = Lawyer | parents = | spouse = Karin Happke | children = | relatives = | footnotes = }} '''Fuad Eduardo Chahin Valenzuela''' (born 1 December 1976) is a Chilean politician and lawyer.
He served as Deputy for District 49 (Araucanía) from 2010 to 2014 and also 2014–2018. Similarly, Chahín was president of the Christian Democratic Party from 2018 to 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://radio.uchile.cl/2021/05/18/fuan-chahin-renuncia-a-la-presidencia-de-la-democracia-cristiana-en-medio-de-pugna-por-candidatura-a-la-moneda/|title=Fuad Chahín renuncia a presidencia de la Democracia Cristiana en medio de pugna por candidatura a La Moneda|publisher=Radio Universidad de Chile|date=18 May 2021|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnnchile.com/pais/fuad-chahin-renuncia-presidencia-dc-muestras_20210519/|title=Fuad Chahín tras renunciar a la presidencia de la DC: "He dado muestras de que nunca me he aferrado a los cargos"|publisher=CNN Chile|date=19 May 2021|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cooperativa.cl/noticias/pais/politica/democracia-cristiana/chahin-renuncio-a-la-presidencia-dc-durante-junta-nacional-que-se/2021-05-18/213428.html|title=Chahín renunció a la presidencia DC durante junta nacional que se resiste a restarse de las primarias|publisher=Radio Cooperativa|date=18 May 2021|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latercera.com/politica/noticia/fuad-chahin-presidente-de-la-democracia-cristiana-la-oposicion-abusa-de-la-palabra-unidad-y-hace-rato-no-comprendemos-lo-que-significa/TOD2S2PLC5AOFKJHD5E2KRAPQI/|title=Fuad Chahin, presidente de la Democracia Cristiana: "La oposición abusa de la palabra unidad y hace rato no comprendemos lo que significa"|publisher=La Tercera|date=1 May 2020|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biobiochile.cl/noticias/nacional/chile/2021/05/17/juventud-de-la-dc-pidio-renuncia-del-presidente-del-partido-fuad-chahin.shtml|title=Juventud de la DC pidió renuncia del presidente del partido, Fuad Chahín|publisher=Radio Bío-Bío|date=17 May 2020|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Chile|first=BCN Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de|date=2020|title=Fuad Eduardo Chahin Valenzuela. Reseñas biográficas parlamentarias|url=https://www.bcn.cl/historiapolitica/resenas_parlamentarias/wiki/Fuad_Eduardo_Chahin_Valenzuela|access-date=2022-01-04|website=bcn.cl}}</ref>
In the November 2017 elections, Chahin ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Senate of Chile for the 11th Circumscription of the Araucanía Region, representing the Christian Democratic Party of Chile within the Convergencia Democrática pact.<ref name="BCN"/>
He was subsequently elected president of the party for the 2018–2020 term, formally assuming office on 22 June 2018, and resigned from the position on 18 May 2021 following poor electoral results in the 2021 Chilean Constitutional Convention election.<ref name="BCN"/>
== Early life == Chahin was born on 1 December 1976 in Temuco, Chile.<ref name="BCN">{{cite web |url=https://www.bcn.cl/historiapolitica/resenas_parlamentarias/wiki/Fuad_Eduardo_Chahin_Valenzuela |title=Fuad Eduardo Chahin Valenzuela |website=Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile |language=es |access-date=2026-01-04 }}</ref> He is the son of Fuad Armando Chahin Said and Gladis Valenzuela Lonconao.<ref name="BCN"/> He is the grandson of a Palestinian immigrant and a Mapuche peasant.<ref>Baeza, Cecilia. "[https://merip.org/2015/04/palestinians-and-latin-americas-indigenous-peoples/ Palestinians and Latin America's Indigenous Peoples]." ''Middle East Report'' 274 (Spring 2015).</ref>
From 1983 to 1990, Chahin completed his primary education at Liceo B No. 13 Las Araucarias in Curacautín and at Colegio De La Salle in Temuco.<ref name="BCN"/> He completed his secondary education at Liceo Camilo Henríquez in the same city.<ref name="BCN"/>
== Professional career == In 1995, he entered the School of Law of the University of Chile, where he earned a degree in Legal and Social Sciences and qualified as a lawyer on 15 November 2004.<ref name="BCN"/>
In 2006, he was a founding partner of the Jorge Ahumada Institute Study Center.<ref name="BCN"/> As a lawyer, he specialized in consumer rights defense and oral litigation.<ref name="BCN"/> In April 2006, he joined the law firm Arévalo y Cía. From July 2007 onward, he has been a partner at Abdala y Cía.<ref name="BCN"/> From 2006 to 2009, he also served as legal counsel for consumer organizations.<ref name="BCN"/>
In the academic field, in 2008 he served as a lecturer in the Executive Skills Diploma program offered by the Institute of Public Affairs of the University of Chile.<ref name="BCN"/>
== Political career == During his university years, Chahin became involved in politics as communal president of the Christian Democratic Youth of Curacautín in 1991.<ref name="BCN"/> In 1995, he served as a student delegate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile.<ref name="BCN"/> The following year, he joined the Constituent Commission and the Student Assembly of the Federation of Students of the University of Chile.<ref name="BCN"/> In 1999, he became president of the Christian Democratic University organization at the same institution.<ref name="BCN"/>
In the December 2001 parliamentary elections, he ran as a candidate for the Chamber of Deputies of Chile representing the Christian Democratic Party in the Araucanía Region, narrowly failing to be elected by a margin of 0.3%.<ref name="BCN"/>
From January 2002 to March 2003, he served as Regional Ministerial Secretary (SEREMI) of Government for the Araucanía Region.<ref name="BCN"/> In March 2003, he was appointed Director of the Social Organizations Division of the Ministry General Secretariat of Government, a position he held until early 2006.<ref name="BCN"/> During this period, he also served on the Presidential Advisory Commission on the Citizen Ombudsman.<ref name="BCN"/> From 2006 to 2009, he provided legislative advisory services to the Ministries of Justice and Mining.<ref name="BCN"/>
He was elected as a member of the Constitutional Convention representing the PDC for the 22nd District of the Araucanía Region.<ref name="BCN"/> In early November 2022, the party's Supreme Tribunal suspended his membership after he publicly supported the ''Reject'' option in the constitutional exit plebiscite, leading to his resignation from the party on 1 December 2022.<ref name="BCN"/>
After one year and nine months of membership, he announced his resignation from Democrats on 18 November 2024, stating that the political project no longer represented him.<ref name="BCN"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.bcn.cl/historiapolitica/resenas_parlamentarias/wiki/Fuad_Eduardo_Chahin_Valenzuela BCN Profile]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chahin, Fuad}} Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century Chilean lawyers Category:University of Chile alumni Category:Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians Category:Democrats (Chile) politicians Category:Members of the Chilean Constitutional Convention Category:People from Temuco Category:Deputies of the LIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Category:Deputies of the LIV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile