Lebanon s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has replaced his chief of staff after his Future Party lost more than a third of its seats in parliamentary elections a week ago.
The Future Party won 20 seats, down from the 33 won in the country s last elections held in 2009.
In a post-election speech last week Hariri said the party had been expecting a better result and there had been "gaps" in how it conducted its campaign, for which people would be held responsible.
Hariri s office announced the resignation of Nader al-Hariri, a cousin of the prime minister, late on Saturday. It said Mohamed Mnaimne had replaced him in a temporary capacity.
Despite Future s losses, Hariri is still the frontrunner to form the next government, as the Sunni Muslim leader with the biggest bloc in parliament. Lebanon s prime minister has to be a Sunni under its sectarian power sharing system.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group and factions and individuals that support its possession of weapons made significant gains last Sunday, winning more than half the seats in parliament.
Hezbollah s powerful arsenal has been a point of contention in Lebanon for years.
The staunchly anti-Hezbollah Lebanese Forces won 15 seats, almost doubling their MPs.
The current parliament s term expires May 20, and difficult negotiations are expected over the division of positions in the new government.
