Fouad Siniora (alternative spellings: Fouad Sanyoura, Fuad Sinyora, Fouad Saniora, Fouad Seniora) is the
Prime Minister of
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
, 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.
Siniora was born into a Sunni-
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
family in
SidonSidon,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. Its name means a fishery...
on April 14, 1943.
Fouad Siniora (alternative spellings: Fouad Sanyoura, Fuad Sinyora, Fouad Saniora, Fouad Seniora) is the
Prime Minister of
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
, 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.
Early life
Siniora was born into a Sunni-
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
family in
SidonSidon,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. Its name means a fishery...
on April 14, 1943. He earned a Masters in Business Administration from the
American University of BeirutThe American University of Beirut is a secular, private, independent, university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionary Daniel Bliss in 1866. The name was changed to the American University of Beirut on November 18, 1920...
after attending the American School for Boys in Sidon. He speaks fluent English. In the 1970s, Siniora worked for
CitibankCitibank is a major international bank, founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. Citibank is now the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup, one of the largest companies in the world...
and taught at his alma mater in
BeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2.1 million as of 2007. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's coastline with the Mediterranean sea, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan Area, which...
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 HaririRafik Bahaa El Deen Al-Hariri — , , a self-made billionaire and business tycoon, was 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
Fouad Siniora has strong ties with the international financial community. Strongly pro-business, he is considered a moderate partisan of
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
. He was a very close adviser to late
Rafik HaririRafik Bahaa El Deen Al-Hariri — , , a self-made billionaire and business tycoon, was 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 HaririSaad ed Deen Rafiq al-Hariri , is a Lebanese-Saudi businessman and politician, and the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the assassinated former Prime Minister of Lebanon...
. He served as finance minister from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004 during which he was the architect of the national dept that climbed from
US $The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
2 billion to
US $The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
50 billion . Siniora was the main architect of the Paris II conference in November 2002 which allowed Lebanon to get
US $The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
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 TaxValue added tax , or goods and services tax is a consumption tax levied on any value that is added to a product...
.
Prime Minister
After the victory of the anti-
SyriaSyria , 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 electionsElections 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, Fouad 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 withdrawalThe Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the withdrawal...
from Lebanon and the first government to include members of the pro-
IranianIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
militantThe word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, comes from the 15th Century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier". The related modern concept of the militia as a defensive organization against invaders grew out of the Anglo-Saxon "fyrd"...
group
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
. 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 PlanThe 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.
Events leading to the Doha Agreement
On November 13 2006, Shiite ministers backed by
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
and
AmalAmal 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...
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 ever since it started work until the resignation of the Shiite ministers.
The Lebanese opposition claims that this resignation means that the Siniora Government was not a legitimate one because it does 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 is still a totally legal cabinet. Opposition demands an increase in opposition representation in the cabinet, sufficient to hold veto power over decision making, as their requirement for returning. The Majority and the West see 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
AmalAmal 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...
,
HezbollahHezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is now also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics...
and the
Free Patriotic MovementThe Free Patriotic Movement , also known as the "Aounist Movement" , is a Lebanese political party, led by Michel Aoun, a former commander of the Lebanese army who served as a transitory Prime Minister of one of two governments that contended for power in the final years of the...
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 Fouad Siniora was an Acting President until the new President was voted in. The demonstrations continued for 17 months until May 7, 2008. The day is remembered by many Lebanese as the darkest day they have witnessed since the end of the
Lebanese Civil WarThe Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in the nation of Lebanon in the Middle East. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 130,000 to 250,000 civilian fatalities...
. Hizbollah,
AmalAmal 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...
, Syrian Socialist National Party, amongst others launched an armed strike against
BeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2.1 million as of 2007. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's coastline with the Mediterranean sea, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan Area, which...
. The Rafik Hariri Intl. Airport, the Government's Grand Serail, and houses of Majority leaders
Saad HaririSaad ed Deen Rafiq al-Hariri , is a Lebanese-Saudi businessman and politician, and the second son of Rafiq Hariri, the assassinated former Prime Minister of Lebanon...
and
Walid JumblattWalid Jumblatt is the current leader of the Progressive Socialist Party "PSP" of Lebanon, and the most prominent leader of the Druze community...
were all put under siege. Mount Lebanon was also attacked in the operation. Vengeance attacks also 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 SuleimanMichel Suleiman or Sleiman is the current 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
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
Lebanon's position in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict has from the start been 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
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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