Mohammad al-Saoudi, former Saida mayor. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — After around eight months of back and forth, South Lebanon governor Mansour Daou finally accepted the resignation of Saida mayor Mohammad al-Saoudi, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Saoudi first submitted his written resignation on Dec. 12, 2022 and again on June 12, 2023.
The Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Dec. 13 that the reason behind Saoudi’s resignation was a crisis over uncollected garbage in the city.
Prior to the resignation, Saida MPs Abdul Rahman Bizri and Osama Saad declared that the Saida municipality was the only entity responsible for dealing with the crisis. Saoudi told Nidaa al-Watan that these statements pushed him to resign.
Municipal elections were supposed to take place in May this year. However, on April 18, Parliament decided to extend the terms of existing municipal councils for at least a year in order to allow more time to gather the necessary funds to hold elections, as well as deal with logistical and administrative obstacles.