Siniora, who’s held the Sidon seat since 2009, said during a news conference that he would not seek re-election despite Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s efforts to persuade him otherwise.
BEIRUT: Future MP Fouad Siniora announced Monday that he will not be running in the upcoming parliamentary elections, yet stressed that his relationship with the Future Movement would not be jeopardized.
Siniora, who’s held the Sidon seat since 2009, said during a news conference that he would not seek re-election despite Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s efforts to persuade him otherwise.
On Sunday, Hariri met with Siniora after the Lebanese premier returned to Beirut at the conclusion of his 4-day Saudi visit, the first since tensions between both countries simmered in the wake of his brief resignation.
The visit was seen as an attempt to mend ties between Hariri and the Kingdom ahead of the country’s first parliamentary elections since 2009.
Hariri’s brief resignation was seen as a politically orchestrated move by Saudi Arabia, with President Michel Aoun accusing the Kingdom of holding Hariri against his well.
Siniora taking himself out of the running suggests that alliances in the Sidon and Jezzine districts, which have been merged into one electoral district following the new electoral law, have yet to be finalized, amid media reports hinting at a possible Free Patriotic Movement-Future alliance.
The former Prime Minister, who served from 2005 until 2008, underscored the failure to end Hezbollah’s possession of “illegal weapons” as one of the reasons for not running.
Siniora was one the Future Movement insiders that opposed the political deal between Hariri, Hezbollah, and Aoun which elected the latter president.