Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora will not run in the parliamentary polls scheduled for May 15. Siniora made his announcement at a press conference on Tuesday, the last day to officially register candidacies for the elections.
Here’s what we know:
• Siniora said, “My reluctance is not out of boycott, but on the contrary, to make way for new energies … and I declare myself involved in the elections without candidacy.”
• This statement follows an announcement by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri in January that he would withdraw from political life and that his party, the Future Movement, would not field a list of candidates in the elections.
• However, last month, Siniora had called on all Lebanese people “especially the Sunnis, who believe in the sovereignty of Lebanon, not to boycott but rather to participate in” the upcoming parliamentary elections.
• Siniora is not the only Sunni political figure who has decided not to run in the legislative elections. Prime Minister Najib Mikati as well as MPs Bahia Hariri, Roula Tabsh, Tarek Merhebi, Mohammad Hajjar and Assem Araji have all said that they will not participate in the elections.