Former Premier Fouad Siniora calls for heavy voter turnout in western Beirut parliamentary voting

BEIRUT — Fouad Siniora, a leading Future Movement official and former premier, on Saturday called for voters in the Beirut II district — a Sunni majority area thrown into an uncertain electoral fate after the political withdrawal of Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri — to turnout for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Here’s what we know:

    • In a speech at Suhoor meal attended by candidates of the “Beirut Confronts” list, Siniora admonished anyone using “unacceptable excuses, including that there is no benefit in the elections and that nothing will change” as grounds not to vote in the elections scheduled for May 15.

    • “This talk is untrue. We can [effect] change if we go to the polls. What will we do on May 16 if we don’t participate,” the National News Agency quoted Siniora as saying. Siniora, who called for heavy voter turnout, was implicitly addressing Sunni voters and partisans of the Future Movement in his speech.

    • Three-time former premier Saad Hariri on Jan. 24 dropped a political bombshell when he announced he was withdrawing from politics and asked his Future Movement to do the same.

    • While Siniora, who served as prime minister from 2005 to 2009, has announced that he would not run in the elections, he has been at loggerheads with Hariri over the latter’s decision to withdraw from politics.

    • On Apr. 1, Siniora attended the announcement of the “Beirut Confronts” electoral list for the Beirut II district, which is headed by former minister Khaled Kabbani.