PM Siniora: I am ready to leave office once a president is elected

 

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told the Saudi daily Okaz that he will leave the premiership as soon as a president is elected.

 

Siniora said he did not wish to preside over a new cabinet. “I will dedicate my time to public work, not politics.”

He also expressed his appreciation of Arab efforts, mainly Egyptian and Saudi ones, made to help solve the crisis in Lebanon.

 

“Once a president is elected, the present government will be considered, according to the constitution, as resigned. Then the formation of the new institutions must be conducted according to the constitution,” Siniora said.

 

“By then, the parliament that has been closed for more than fourteen months will be reopened, and a new president will be elected,” he added.

 

Commenting on the relationship between Lebanon and Syria if Army Commander General Michel Sleiman is elected as president, Siniora said that the two countries are bound by history and geography.

 

“Lebanon and Syria have lots of common interests, hence the need for normal relations based on mutual respect and the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of both of them,” Siniora said.

 

Commenting on the accusations of treason and dependence on foreign powers directed against him, Siniora said, “They are not only contradicting the truth but are impairing themselves and their country.”