Fouad Siniora
Encyclopedia
Fuad Siniora is a Lebanese politician, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, a position he held from 19 July 2005 to May 25, 2008 the date of the election of the new President of Lebanon; he was renominated to the post on 28 May 2008 and held the post as Acting President between those dates. He stepped down on 9 November 2009 in favor of Saad Hariri
Saad Hariri
Saad-eddine Rafiq Al-Hariri is a Saudi-Lebanese billionaire who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 until 2011. He is the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005...

, the late Rafiq Hariri's son. He currently serves as a member of Parliament from Saida.

Early life

Siniora was born into a Sunni-Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 family in Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...

 on April 14, 1943. He earned a Masters in Business Administration from the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...

 after attending the American School for Boys in Sidon. He speaks fluent English. In the 1970s, Siniora worked for Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...

 and taught at his alma mater in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 and at the Lebanese University. He then joined the audit committee at Lebanon's Central Bank in 1977. In 1982, he was recruited by successful businessman Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...

 to help him manage and expand his massive business empire. Upon the end of Lebanon's Civil War, Hariri became Lebanon's Prime Minister. Hariri appointed Siniora as his Minister of Finance in his successive cabinets. He was the Chairman and Managing Director of Groupe Mediterranee which encompasses four Hariri-owned banks. He is known for his interest in Arab literature and poetry.

Member of National Assembly

Fuad Siniora has strong ties with the international financial community. Strongly pro-business, he is considered a moderate partisan of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

. He was a very close adviser to late Rafik Hariri
Rafik Hariri
Rafic Baha El Deen Al-Hariri , was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004.He headed five cabinets during his tenure...

 and he is very close to his son Saad Hariri
Saad Hariri
Saad-eddine Rafiq Al-Hariri is a Saudi-Lebanese billionaire who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 until 2011. He is the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005...

. He served as finance minister from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004 during which he was the architect of the national debt that climbed from US $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

2 billion to US $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

50 billion . Siniora was the main architect of the Paris II conference in November 2002 which allowed Lebanon to get US $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

2.6 billion and the Paris III Conference in January 2007 which pledged 13 billion dollars to Lebanon. He was accused of corruption and mismanagement after Hariri's ousting in 1998, in what was mainly viewed as a conflict between Hariri and Syria, and a Syrian-orchestrated move to keep him in line. Siniora was cleared of all charges in 2003 by the parliament and the Judicial Court. In 2002, he abolished most of Lebanon's duty taxes and introduced a Value Added Tax
Value added tax
A value added tax or value-added tax is a form of consumption tax. From the perspective of the buyer, it is a tax on the purchase price. From that of the seller, it is a tax only on the "value added" to a product, material or service, from an accounting point of view, by this stage of its...

.

Prime minister

After the victory of the anti-Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n opposition in parliamentary elections
Elections in Lebanon
Elections in Lebanon gives information on election and election results in Lebanon.- Parliamentary electoral system :Lebanon's national legislature is called the Assembly of Representatives...

 held in May and June 2005, Fuad Siniora was asked by President Lahoud on 30 June to form a government. He resigned from the chairmanship of Group Méditerranée (a banking holding controlled by the Hariri family). After laborious negotiations with the President and the different political forces, Siniora formed a government on July 19, 2005. It is the first government formed after the Syrian withdrawal
Cedar Revolution
The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...

 from Lebanon and the first government to include members of the pro-Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...

 group Hezbollah. With regards to Hezbollah, the Siniora cabinet's official stance in the Pre-Doha Government was that "The government considers the resistance a natural and honest expression of the Lebanese people’s national rights to liberate their land and defend their honour against Israeli aggression and threats".

The July War

On July 12 , 2006, Hezbollah launched a deadly cross-border attack against Israel and initiated the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. On July 27, 2006, Siniora seeking to end the devastating conflict, presented a seven-point Siniora Plan
Siniora Plan
The Siniora Plan was the unofficial name of the 7-point truce plan for the 2006 Lebanon War that was presented by Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora at the 15-nation conference in Rome on 27 July 2006....

 at a 15-nation conference in Rome.
Siniora also called for an Arab League meeting in Beirut. During a televised address at the conference, he famously sobbed as he described the suffering of the Lebanese people.
On 12 August, Siniora cautiously welcomed the newly-passed UNSCR 1701.

The Lebanese Government even declared that unauthorised rocket launching towards Israel would constitute High Treason, as the Israelis "would gain much propaganda".

Events leading to the Doha Agreement

On November 13, 2006, Shiite ministers backed by Hezbollah and Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

 resigned from Siniora's cabinet. This took place on the eve in which the International Tribunal trying the murderers of Rafik Hariri was to be discussed in a cabinet meeting. Although the resigned ministers were only 6, nearly 40% of the Lebanese MPs are in the opposition. Unlike Western democracies, no party in Lebanon has ever had a monopoly on power and decision-making, therefore the Government never took a decision unless it was agreed upon with the opposition.

The Lebanese opposition claimed that this resignation meant that the Siniora Government was not a legitimate one because it did not represent all religious groups in Lebanon, namely the Shiite Lebanese. According to the constitution, the government is legal as long as it has two-thirds of the ministers, and so the majority believed the Siniora government was still a totally legal cabinet. The opposition demanded an increase in opposition representation in the cabinet, sufficient to hold veto power over decision making, as their requirement for returning. The majority saw this as a Syrian-orchestrated move to block the establishment of the Hariri tribunal.

On December 1, 2006, the parliamentary minority, primarily the pro-Syrian parties of Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

, Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement
Free Patriotic Movement
The Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun and allied with Hezbollah, The movement was officially declared a political party on September 18, 2005Though most of the party's support comes from Lebanon's...

 of Michael Aoun launched a campaign of street demonstrations with the goal of getting veto power in the government. The country was further put into paralysis when the opposition refused to attend the parliament and vote for a new president, after Emile Lahoud's Presidential term expired. This meant the Fuad Siniora was an acting president until the new president was voted in.

The demonstrations continued for 17 months until May 7, 2008 (which was a reply to May 5,2008). The day is remembered by many Lebanese as the darkest day they have witnessed since the end of the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

. Hizbollah, Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...

, Syrian Social Nationalist Party
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
The Syrian Social Nationalist Party , is a secular nationalist political party in Lebanon and Syria. It advocates the establishment of a Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Cyprus, Kuwait,...

, amongst others launched an armed strike against Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

. The Rafik Hariri Intl. Airport, the Government's Grand Serail, and houses of Majority leaders Saad Hariri
Saad Hariri
Saad-eddine Rafiq Al-Hariri is a Saudi-Lebanese billionaire who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 2009 until 2011. He is the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005...

 and Walid Jumblatt
Walid Jumblatt
Walid Jumblatt is a Lebanese politician and the current leader of the Progressive Socialist Party . He is the most prominent leader of Lebanon's Druze community.-Family:...

 were all put under siege. Mount Lebanon was also attacked in the operation. Vengeance attacks broke out in other areas of Lebanon. It is thought that about 200 people died in the few days of fighting. The Beirut siege ended shortly after the Lebanese leaders met in Doha and agreed to what is referred to as the Doha Agreement. The agreement promised the minority veto power, led to the election of President Michel Suleiman
Michel Suleiman
Michel Suleiman or Sleiman is the President of Lebanon. Before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. After LAF commander Émile Lahoud took office as president in November of 1998, Suleiman succeeded him, taking his place in December...

, and a promise to the majority the weapons will no longer be used for internal political gains.

See also

  • Fouad Siniora's 2005-2008 cabinet
    Lebanese government of July 2005
    This is the list of the Lebanese government that was formed by Fouad Siniora on 19 July 2005 who was appointed by then president Émile Lahoud. All the main political blocs were included in it except for the Free Patriotic Movement-led bloc headed by General Michel Aoun...

  • Position of Lebanon in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
    Position of Lebanon in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
    Lebanon's position in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict from the start was to disavow the Hezbollah shelling and raid on 12 July, while calling for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanese territory....

  • Siniora Plan
    Siniora Plan
    The Siniora Plan was the unofficial name of the 7-point truce plan for the 2006 Lebanon War that was presented by Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora at the 15-nation conference in Rome on 27 July 2006....


External links


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