Nassib Lahoud was since 1995 considered to be one of the most serious candidates for the presidency. Despite his defeat in the parliamentary elections in 2005, after four terms in office, he announced that he was prepared to run for president if the March 14 Alliance - with a majority in parliament - decided to back him. His willingness to run for the presidency was part of a wider campaign to remove the pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud (Nassib's cousin) who was widely considered to be the last bastion of Syrian hegemony over the country.