Ghassan Moukheiber, former MP for Metn (Mount-Lebanon 2), who had been working to form an independent list of opposition candidates in Mount-Lebanon 2, announced Saturday his withdrawal from the May 15 parliamentary elections, while affirming he would continue to work “in the service of the public.”

Here’s what we know:

•  Moukheiber said that his candidature was part of “his duty in rescuing the country” from “the collapse of the state, its bankruptcy and the humiliation of its citizens by the organized corruption of the ruling class.”

•  In the 2018 elections, during which he ran on a list with the Free Patriotic Movement, Moukheiber obtained 2,654 votes; he has since broken with the Aounist party.

•  The erstwhile MP recently told L'Orient-Le Jour that he had reached an agreement with the National Bloc, saying at the time that "we are in discussions to unify the movements of the thawra (the October 2019 revolution) within a single bloc. Then we could discuss forming a common list with the Kataeb" ... "But the hoped-for union has not been realized, neither at the national level or in Metn." Moukheiber said, adding, "this threatens the quality and effectiveness of the electoral battle to face the system in power."