Parliamentary democratic republic
Lebanon
is a
parliamentary
democratic
republic
within the overall framework of
confessionalism
, a form of
consociationalism
in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The
constitution of Lebanon
grants the people the right to change their government. However, from the mid-1970s until the parliamentary elections in 1992, the
Lebanese Civil War
(1975?1990) precluded the exercise of political rights.
According to the constitution, direct elections must be held for the parliament every four years, however after the parliamentary election in
2009
[1]
another election was not held until
2018
. The
Parliament
, in turn, elects a
president
every six years to a single term. The president is not eligible for re-election. The last presidential election was in
2016
. The president and parliament choose the
prime minister
.
Political parties
may be formed; most are based on sectarian interests. 2008 saw a new twist to Lebanese politics when the
Doha Agreement
set a new trend where the opposition is allowed a veto power in the
Council of Ministers
and confirmed religious confessionalism in the distribution of political power. The
Economist Intelligence Unit
classified
Lebanon's political system as
authoritarian
in 2023.
[2]
Overview
[
edit
]
The
Maronite
Catholics
and the
Druze
founded modern
Lebanon
in the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "
Maronite-Druze dualism
" in
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate
.
[3]
Since the emergence of the post-1943 state and after the destruction of the Ottoman
Caliphate
, national policy has been determined largely by a relatively restricted group of traditional regional and sectarian leaders. The 1943
National Pact
, an unwritten agreement that established the political foundations of modern Lebanon, allocated political power on an essentially confessional system based on the 1932 census. Seats in parliament were divided on a 6-to-5 ratio of
Christians
to
Muslims
, until 1990 when the ratio changed to half and half. Positions in the government bureaucracy are allocated on a similar basis. The pact also by custom allocated public offices along religious lines, with the top three positions in the ruling "troika" distributed as follows: the
president
, a
Maronite Christian
; the
speaker
of the Parliament, a
Shi'a Muslim
; and the
prime minister
, a
Sunni Muslim
.
Efforts to alter or abolish the confessional system of allocating power have been at the centre of Lebanese politics for decades. Those religious groups most favoured by the 1943 formula sought to preserve it, while those who saw themselves at a disadvantage sought either to revise it after updating key demographic data or to abolish it entirely. Nonetheless, many of the provisions of the national pact were codified in the 1989
Taif Agreement
, perpetuating sectarianism as a key element of Lebanese political life.
Although moderated somewhat under Ta'if, the Constitution gives the president a strong and influential position. The president has the authority to promulgate laws passed by the Parliament, form the government to issue supplementary regulations to ensure the execution of laws, and to negotiate and ratify treaties.
The Parliament is elected by adult suffrage (
majority
age for election is 21)
[4]
based on a system of majority or "winner-take-all" for the various confessional groups. There has been a recent effort to switch to proportional representation which many argue will provide a more accurate assessment of the size of political groups and allow minorities to be heard. Most deputies do not represent political parties as they are known in the West, and rarely form Western-style groups in the assembly. Political blocs are usually based on confessional and local interests or on personal/family allegiance rather than on political affinities.
The parliament traditionally has played a significant role in financial affairs, since it has the responsibility for levying taxes and passing the budget. It also exercises political control over the cabinet through formal questioning of ministers on policy issues and by requesting a confidence debate.
Lebanon's judicial system is based on the
Napoleonic Code
. Juries are not used in trials. The Lebanese court system has three levels?courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and the court of cassation. There also is a system of religious courts having jurisdiction over personal status matters within their own communities, e.g., rules on such matters as marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
Lebanese political institutions often play a secondary role to highly confessionalized personality-based politics. Powerful families also still play an independent role in mobilizing votes for both local and parliamentary elections. Nonetheless, a lively panoply of domestic
political parties
, some even predating independence, exists. The largest are all confessional based. The
Free Patriotic Movement
, The
Kataeb Party
, also known as the Phalange Party, the
National Bloc
,
National Liberal Party
,
Lebanese Forces
and the
Guardians of the Cedars
(now outlawed) each have their own base among Christians.
Amal
and
Hezbollah
are the main rivals for the organized
Shi'a
vote, and the PSP (
Progressive Socialist Party
) is the leading
Druze
party. While Shi'a and Druze parties command fierce loyalty to their leaderships, there is more factional infighting among many of the Christian parties. Sunni parties have not been the standard vehicle for launching political candidates, and tend to focus across Lebanon's borders on issues that are important to the community at large. Lebanon's
Sunni
parties include
Hizb ut-Tahrir
,
Future Movement
,
Independent Nasserist Organization
(INO), the
Al-Tawhid
, and
Ahbash
. Besides the traditional confessional parties above, new secular parties have emerged amongst which
Sabaa
and the
Party of Lebanon
[5]
representing a new trend in Lebanese politics towards secularism and a truly democratic society. In addition to domestic parties, there are branches of pan-Arab secular parties (
Ba'ath
parties,
socialist
and
communist
parties) that were active in the 1960s and throughout the period of
civil war
.
There are differences both between and among Muslim and Christian parties regarding the role of religion in state affairs. There is a very high degree of political activism among religious leaders across the sectarian spectrum. The interplay for position and power among the religious, political, and party leaders and groups produces a political tapestry of extraordinary complexity.
In the past, the system worked to produce a viable democracy. Events over the last decade and long-term demographic trends, however, have upset the delicate
Muslim
?
Christian
?
Druze
balance and resulted in greater segregation across the social spectrum. Whether in political parties, places of residence, schools, media outlets, even workplaces, there is a lack of regular interaction across sectarian lines to facilitate the exchange of views and promote understanding. All factions have called for a reform of the political system.
Some Christians favor political and administrative decentralization of the government, with separate Muslim and Christian sectors operating within the framework of a confederation. Muslims, for the most part, prefer a unified, central government with an enhanced share of power commensurate with their larger share of the population. The reforms of the Ta'if agreement moved in this direction but have not been fully realized.
Palestinian refugees
, predominantly
Sunni Muslims
, whose numbers are estimated at between 160,000 and 225,000, are not active on the domestic political scene.
On 3 September 2004, the Lebanese Parliament voted 96?29 to amend the constitution to extend President
Emile Lahoud
's six-year term (which was about to expire) by another three years. The move was supported by Syria, which maintained a large military presence in Lebanon.
Former prime minister
Rafic Hariri
was assassinated in February 2005.
[6]
Following the withdrawal of
Syrian troops
in April 2005, Lebanon held
parliamentary elections
in four rounds, from 29 May to 19 June. The elections, the first for 33 years without the presence of Syrian military forces, were won by the Quadripartite alliance, which was part the
Rafik Hariri Martyr List
, a coalition of several parties and organizations newly opposed to Syrian domination of Lebanese politics.
In January 2015, the
Economist Intelligence Unit
released a report stating that Lebanon ranked the second in
Middle East
and 98th out of 167 countries worldwide for
Democracy Index
2014. The index ranks countries according to election processes, pluralism, government functions, political participation, political cultures and fundamental freedoms.
From October 2019, there have been mass protests against the government. In August 2020,
a large explosion in Beirut
killed at least 204 people and caused at least US$3 billion in property damage. Following the explosion and protests against the government, the prime minister and his cabinet resigned.
[7]
In May 2022, Lebanon held its first
election
since a painful economic crisis dragged it to the brink of becoming a
failed state
. Lebanon's crisis has been so severe that more than 80 percent of the population is now considered poor by the
United Nations
. In the election Iran-backed Shia Muslim
Hezbollah
movement and its allies lost their parliamentary majority. Hezbollah did not lose any of its seats, but its allies lost seats. Hezbollah’s ally, President
Michel Aoun's
Free Patriotic Movement
, was no longer the biggest Christian party after the election. A rival Christian party, led by
Samir Geagea
, with close ties to Saudi Arabia, the
Lebanese Forces
(LF), made gains. Sunni
Future Movement
, led by former prime minister
Saad Hariri
, did not participate the election, leaving a political vacuum to other Sunni politicians to fill.
[8]
[9]
[10]
Executive branch
[
edit
]
The
president
is elected by the
Parliament
for a six-year term and cannot be reelected again until six years have passed from the end of the first term.
[11]
The
prime minister
and deputy prime minister are appointed by the president in consultation with the Parliament; the president is required to be a
Maronite
, the prime minister a
Sunni
, and the
speaker
of the Parliament a
Shi'a
. (See
list
of the ministers and their political affiliation for a list of ministers.)
This confessional system is based on 1932 census data which showed the Maronite Christians as having a substantial majority of the population. The Government of Lebanon continues to refuse to undertake a new census.
The president
[
edit
]
Lebanon operates under a strong semi-presidential system. This system is unique in that it grants the president wide unilateral discretion, does not make him accountable to Parliament (unless for treason), yet is elected by the Parliament. The president has the sole power to appoint the prime minister, and may dismiss them at any point (without input from the Chamber of Deputies, which can also force the president to resign). In addition, the president has the sole authority to form a government (which must then receive a vote-of-confidence from Parliament) and dismiss it when they wish. This thus makes Lebanon a president-parliamentary system rather than a premier-presidential system (such as France), as the president does not have to cohabitate with a prime minister he dislikes. The historical reason for the broad powers of the president are that their powers were merged with those of the French high commissioner of Greater Lebanon, thus creating an exceptionally powerful presidency for semi-presidential systems.
[12]
Following the end of the
Lebanese Civil War
, the president lost some powers to the
Council of Ministers
through the
Taif Agreement
; being the sole person who appoints it, however, they
de facto
still retain all (or most) of their pre-Taif powers.
Legislative branch
[
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]
Lebanon's
national legislature
is called the
Assembly of Representatives
(
Majlis al-Nuwab
in
Arabic
). Since the elections of 1992 (the first since the reforms of the
Taif Agreement
of 1989 removed the built-in majority previously enjoyed by Christians and distributed the seats equally between Christians and Muslims), the Parliament has had 128 seats. The term was four years, but has recently been extended to five.
Seats in the Parliament are
confessionally distributed
but elected by
universal suffrage
.
Each religious community has an allotted number of seats in the Parliament. They do not represent only their co-religionists, however; all candidates in a particular constituency, regardless of religious affiliation, must receive a plurality of the total vote, which includes followers of all confessions. The system was designed to minimize inter-sectarian competition and maximize cross-confessional cooperation: candidates are opposed only by co-religionists, but must seek support from outside of their own faith in order to be elected.
The opposition
Qornet Shehwan Gathering
, a group opposed to the former pro-
Syrian
government, has claimed that constituency boundaries have been drawn so as to allow many
Shi'a
Muslims to be elected from Shi'a-majority constituencies (where the
Hezbollah
Party is strong), while allocating many Christian members to Muslim-majority constituencies, forcing Christian politicians to represent Muslim interests. (Similar charges, but in reverse, were made against the
Chamoun
administration in the 1950s).
The following table sets out the confessional allocation of seats in the Parliament before and after the
Taif Agreement
.
Current parliament
[
edit
]
March 8 Alliance
(caretaker government)
(60)
March 14 Alliance
(38)
Other Opposition (30)
Judicial branch
[
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]
Lebanon is a
civil law
country.
Its judicial branch is composed of:
- Ordinary Courts:
- Special Courts:
- The
Constitutional Council
(called for in the
Taif Agreement
) rules on constitutionality of laws
- The
Supreme Council
hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed.
- A system of military courts that also has jurisdiction over civilians for the crimes of espionage, treason, and other crimes that are considered to be security-related.
[14]
Political parties and elections
[
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]
Lebanon has numerous
political parties
, but they play a much less significant role in Lebanese politics than they do in most parliamentary democracies. Many of the "parties" are simply lists of candidates endorsed by a prominent national or local figure. Loose coalitions, usually organized locally, are formed for electoral purposes by negotiation among clan leaders and candidates representing various religious communities; such coalitions usually exist only for the election, and rarely form a cohesive block in the
Parliament
after the election. No single party has ever won more than 12.5 percent of the seats in the Parliament, and no coalition of parties has won more than 35 percent.
Especially outside of the major cities, elections tend to focus more on local than national issues, and it is not unusual for a party to join an electoral ticket in one constituency while aligned with a rival party ? even an ideologically opposite party ? in another constituency.
It is not uncommon for election times to be accompanied by outbreaks of violence, especially in polling areas where there are people of conflicting political and religious backgrounds. Sectarianism is so ingrained into Lebanese politics and society that citizens supporting their political parties will kill or be killed defending them.
International participation
[
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]
Lebanon participates in the international community through both international organizations and enacting international policy practices, such as the Sustainable development goals and the
Paris Agreement
.
Member organizations
[
edit
]
ABEDA
,
ACCT
,
AFESD
,
AL
,
AMF
,
EBU
,
ESCWA
,
FAO
,
G24
,
G-77
,
IAEA
,
IBRD
,
ICAO
,
ICC
[
clarification needed
]
,
ICRM
, IDA
[
clarification needed
]
,
IDB
,
IFAD
, IFC
[
clarification needed
]
,
IFRCS
,
ILO
,
IMF
, IMO
[
clarification needed
]
,
Inmarsat
,
ITUC
,
Intelsat
,
Interpol
,
IOC
,
ISO
(correspondent),
ITU
,
NAM
, OAS
[
clarification needed
]
(observer),
OIC
, PCA
[
clarification needed
]
,
UN
,
UNCTAD
,
UNESCO
,
UNHCR
,
UNIDO
,
UNRWA
,
UPU
,
WCO
,
WFTU
,
WHO
,
WIPO
,
WMO
,
WTO
.
Sustainable development goals
[
edit
]
Sustainable Development Goals and Lebanon
explains major contributions launched in Lebanon towards the advancement of the
Sustainable Development Goals
SDGs and the 2030 agenda.
Lebanon adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. It presented its first Voluntary National Review VNR in 2018 at the
High Level Political Forum
in New York. A national committee chaired by the Lebanese Prime Minister is leading the work on the SDGs in the country.
[15]
In 2019, Lebanon's overall performance in the SDG Index ranked 6th out of 21 countries in the Arab region.
[16]
Multi-stakeholder forums were held by different UN agencies including the
UN
Global Compact Network in Lebanon during the late 2010s for the advancement of Global Goals and their Impact on Businesses in Lebanon. The latest two were held on October 18, 2018 and October 2019 under the title of connecting the global goals to Local Businesses.
[17]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Pro-Western coalition declares victory in Lebanon ? The Globe and Mail"
. Retrieved
20 October
2019
.
- ^
"Democracy Index 2023"
.
Economist Intelligence Unit
. Retrieved
8 April
2024
.
- ^
Deeb, Marius (2013).
Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah: The Unholy Alliance and Its War on Lebanon
. Hoover Press.
ISBN
9780817916664
.
the Maronites and the Druze, who founded Lebanon in the early eighteenth century.
- ^
Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for.
"Refworld | Liban : information sur l'age de la majorite, en particulier chez les femmes; droits de garde du pere sur les enfants de sexe feminin"
.
Refworld
. Retrieved
19 February
2019
.
- ^
"The anti-establishment - Executive Magazine"
. 13 September 2017
. Retrieved
20 October
2019
.
- ^
"WAMU and Farid Abboud discuss Hariri's assassination"
. Archived from
the original
on 13 September 2011
. Retrieved
20 October
2019
.
- ^
"Beirut explosion: Lebanon's government 'to resign' as death toll rises"
.
BBC News
. 10 August 2020.
- ^
Chehayeb, Kareem.
"After elections in Lebanon, does political change stand a chance?"
.
www.aljazeera.com
.
- ^
Chehayeb, Kareem.
"Hezbollah allies projected to suffer losses in Lebanon elections"
.
www.aljazeera.com
.
- ^
Chehayeb, Kareem.
"Hariri's absence leaves Sunni voters unsure ahead of Lebanon poll"
.
www.aljazeera.com
.
- ^
Issam Michael Saliba (October 2007).
"Lebanon: Presidential Election and the Conflicting Constitutional Interpretations"
. US Library of Congress
. Retrieved
13 May
2014
.
- ^
"Caught between constitution and politics: the presidential vacuum in Lebanon"
.
Heinrich Boll Stiftung Middle East
. Retrieved
20 October
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Ministry of Justice, Republic of Lebanon
.
"Judicial map"
. Archived from
the original
on 25 November 2016
. Retrieved
19 March
2023
.
- ^
Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs.
"Lebanon"
.
2001-2009.state.gov
. Retrieved
20 October
2019
.
- ^
"Lebanon .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform"
.
sustainabledevelopment.un.org
.
Archived
from the original on 30 December 2020
. Retrieved
4 October
2020
.
- ^
Luomi, M.; Fuller, G.; Dahan, L.; Lisboa Basund, K.; de la Mothe Karoubi, E.; Lafortune, G. (2019).
Arab Region SDG Index and Dashboards Report 2019
. SDG Centre of Excellence for the Arab Region/Emirates Diplomatic Academy and Sustainable Development Solutions Network. p. 5.
- ^
Global Compact Network Lebanon (GCNL) (2015).
"Our Mission"
.
External links
[
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]