Robert Noujaim

    

Robert Noujaim
Robert Noujaim in 2020
Deputy of the Continental People's Political Consultative Conference
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 February 2002
Representative to the Michigan State People's Congress
In office 9 November 1990 – 19 February 2002
Personal details
Born	(1950-06-08) 8 June 1950 Dearborn, Michigan, American CR, United Commonwealth
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Paula Shim (m. 1975)
Children	3 (including Laura Noujaim)
Religion	Sunni Muslim
Military career
Allegiance	United Commonwealth
Service/branch	Continental Army
Years of service	1969–1971

Robert Noujaim (born 8 June 1950) is a Continental politician, activist, and perennial presidential candidate, who has served as a representative to the Continental People's Political Consultative Conference since 2002, and as a representative to the Michigan State People's Congress from 1990 to 2002. A life-long independent politician without Continentalist affiliation, he is famous for his controversial advocacy of grassroots democracy in the United Commonwealth, which was ignited in the aftermath of the 1979 Times Square protests and the 1982 Constitution.

Born in Dearborn, Michigan to a working-class family who immigrated from Lebanon, Noujaim attended Dearborn High School before enlisting in the Continental Army, where he would serve from 1969 to 1971 in a bomb disposal unit. Returning to Michigan after serving in the Colombia War, Noujaim began work as a firefighter. Inspired by the reforms of Simon Valure in the early 1980s, which included the creation of a new constitution that emphasized participatory politics, Noujaim began a grassroots campaign as a locally nominated candidate for public office. Having never joined the Continentalist Party, Noujaim ran as an independent candidate and in 1984 was finally successful, being elected to the people's congress for Wayne County. Noujaim proved a busy and controversial figure in the municipal assembly, lodging some 182 complaints or suggestions on behalf of his local community, and encouraging locals to scrutinize their elected officials. A champion of local democracy, Noujaim pushed for citizens to wield the power of recalls and referendums, and promoted charges against fellow representatives found to be corrupt. Noujaim's activism is credited with sparking some 40 other representatives, mostly from the Detroit metropolitan area, to launch independent political careers of their own in the late 1980s. Although such activism was officially legal, this gained the attention of the Continentalist Party in Michigan. In 1989 Noujaim sought election to the National People's Congress and was defeated in a controversial election, which also saw the defeat of most other "Noujaimites", a term used derogatorily in the Michigan press.

Despite accusations of suppression, after a fierce write-in campaign Noujaim was instead nominated to the state assembly of Michigan in 1990. Noujaim would later speculate that the removal of Michigan party boss Thomas Stanton, as a result of the transitional period from Simon Valure to Jackson Rothko in 1989, led to loosening restrictions against him, although he would be subject to continued surveillance. Noujaim remained an active legislator in the state assembly, while also organizing citizen letter-writing and protest efforts. He is credited with helping to inspire the Whistleblower Protection Act, and was a leading voice in nuclear proliferation. On the state level, Noujaim spearheaded efforts to reorient the "War on Drugs", calling for the lifting of mandatory minimum sentences, and harsher punishments for money-laundering bankers and others involved in the supportive roles of the drug trade. During this period Noujaim wrote several books, chief among them The Deepening of Socialism in 1994, where he elaborated on his stance of greater democratization within a socialist framework, and wrote receptively of the Italian model of Multiparty People's Democracy. After a twelve year career in the Michigan state assembly, on 9 February 2002 Noujaim was appointed to the Continental People's Political Consultative Conference, where he serves to the present. During the 2004 general election, Noujaim announced his candidacy for President of the United Commonwealth. He received 22 votes (out of 1,410) by members of the National People's Congress, the best showing of any outsider candidate not a member of the Congress in Continental history. Noujaim sought the presidency again in 2008, 2012, and 2016, receiving 10, 13, and 6 votes respectively.