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Parliament of Lebanon

Coordinates:33°53′48.39″N35°30′13.69″E/ 33.8967750°N 35.5038028°E/33.8967750; 35.5038028
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Lebanese Parliament
مجلس النواب اللبناني
Parlement Libanais
Type
Type
Leadership
Nabih Berri,Amal Movement
since October 28, 1992
Elias Bou Saab,FPM
since May 31, 2022
Secretaries
Structure
Seats128
Political groups
Caretaker Government(74)
Strong Lebanon(13)[2]
Political groups
Opposition (54)
Elections
Plurality block votingwithseats allocated by religion
Last election
15 May 2022
Next election
TBD
Meeting place
Lebanese Parliament,Beirut,Lebanon
Website
lp.gov.lb
Footnotes
Politics of Lebanon

Arab LeagueMember State of the Arab League

Constitution
Human rights
Executive
Legislature
Subdivisions
Elections
Foreign relations

flagLebanon portal

TheLebanese Parliament(Arabic:مجلس النواب,romanized:Majlis an-Nuwwab,English "House of Representatives",French:Parlement Libanais)[12]is the nationalparliamentof theRepublic of Lebanon.There are 128 members elected to a four-year term inmulti-member constituencies,apportioned among Lebanon's diverseChristianandMuslimdenominations but with half of the seats reserved for Christians and half reserved to Muslims per Constitutional Article 24.[13]Lebanon hasuniversal adult suffrage.Its major functions are to elect thePresidentof the republic, to approve thegovernment(although appointed by the President, thePrime Minister,along with the Cabinet, must retain the confidence of a majority in the Parliament), and to approve laws and expenditure.

On 15 May 2013, the Parliament extended its mandate for 17 months, due to the deadlock over the electoral law. And, on 5 November 2014, the Parliament enacted another extension, thus keeping its mandate for an additional 31 months, until 20 June 2017,[14]and on 16 June 2017 the Parliament in turn extended its own mandate an additional 11 months to hold elections according to a much-anticipated reformed electoral law. After extending its term for 9 years, a new parliament was elected on 6 May 2018 in the2018 general election.According to the Lebanese constitution[15]and the electoral law of 2017,[16]elections are held on a Sunday during the 60 days preceding the end of the sitting parliament's mandate, with the next one due on a Sunday falling between March 22, 2026 and May 22, 2026.

Allocation of seats

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A unique feature of the Lebanese system is the principle of "confessional distribution": each religious community has an allotted number of deputies in the Parliament in a form ofconsociationalism.

In elections held between 1932 and 1972 (the last till after theLebanese Civil War), seats were apportioned between Christians and Muslims in a 6:5 ratio, with various denominations of the two faiths allocated representation roughly proportional to their size. By the 1960s, Muslims had become openly dissatisfied with this system, aware that their own higher birthrate and the higher emigration rate among Christians had by this time almost certainly produced a Muslim majority, which the parliamentary distribution did not reflect. Christian politicians were unwilling to abolish or alter the system, however, and it was one of the factors in the 1975–1990 civil war. TheTaif Agreementof 1989, which ended the civil war, reapportioned the Parliament to provide for equal representation of Christians and Muslims, with each electing 64 of the 128 deputies. Of which 43 are Catholic (33.5%), 27 Sunni (21%), 27 Shiite (21%), 20 Orthodox (15.6%), 8 Druze (6.2%), 2 Alawites (1.5%) and 1 Evangelical (0.8%).

Although distributed confessionally, all members, regardless of their religious faith, are elected by universal suffrage, forcing politicians to seek support from outside of their own religious communities, unless their co-religionists overwhelmingly dominate their particular constituency.

The changes stipulated by theTaif Agreementare set out in the table below:

Parliament of Lebanon seat allocation
Confession Before Taif After Taif
Maronite Catholic 30 34
Eastern Orthodox 11 14
Melkite Catholic 6 8
Armenian Orthodox 4 5
Armenian Catholic 1 1
Protestant 1 1
Other Christian Minorities 1 1
Total Christians 54 64
Sunni 20 27
Shi'ite 19 27
Alawite 0 2
Druze 6 8
Total Muslims + Druze 45 64
Total 99 128
Electoral district under 2017 Election Law
Seats
Beirut I (East Beirut) 8 1 1 1 3 1 1
Beirut II (West Beirut) 11 6 2 1 1 1
Bekaa I (Zahle) 7 1 1 1 1 2 1
Bekaa II (West Bekaa-Rachaya) 6 2 1 1 1 1
Bekaa III (Baalbek-Hermel) 10 2 6 1 1
Mount Lebanon I (Byblos-Kesrwan) 8 1 7
Mount Lebanon II (Metn) 8 4 2 1 1
Mount Lebanon III (Baabda) 6 2 1 3
Mount Lebanon IV (Aley-Chouf) 13 2 4 5 1 1
North I (Akkar) 7 3 1 1 2
North II (Tripoli-Minnieh-Dennieh) 11 8 1 1 1
North III (Bcharre-Zghorta-Batroun-Koura) 10 7 3
South I (Saida-Jezzine) 5 2 2 1
South II (Zahrany-Tyre) 7 6 1
South III (Marjaayoun-Nabatieh-Hasbaya-Bint Jbeil) 11 1 8 1 1
Total 128 27 27 8 2 34 14 8 5 1 1 1
Source:961News

Members

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Main article:List of members of the 2022–2026 Lebanese Parliament

Political parties

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Main article:List of political parties in Lebanon

Numerouspolitical partiesexist in Lebanon. Many parties are little more thanad hocelectoral lists, formed by negotiation among influential local figures representing the various confessional communities; these lists usually function only for the purpose of the election, and do not form identifiable groupings in the parliament subsequently. Other parties are personality-based, often comprising followers of a present or past political leader or warlord. Few parties are based, in practice, on any particular ideology, although in theory most claim to be.

No single party has ever won more than 12.5 percent of the total number of seats in the Parliament, and until 2005 no coalition ever won more than a third of the total. The general election held in 2005, however, resulted in a clear majority (72 seats out of 128) being won by the alliance led bySaad Hariri(son of murdered former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri); half of these were held by Hariri's ownFuture Movement.

Speaker

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Main article:List of Speakers of the Parliament of Lebanon

The Speaker of the Parliament, who by custom must be aShi'aMuslim, is now elected to a four-year term, and is the highest office in the parliament.[17]Prior to theTaif Agreement,they are elected to a two-year term. They form part of a "troika", together with the President (required to be aMaroniteChristian) and the Prime Minister (aSunniMuslim). The privileges of the Speaker are unusually powerful, relative to other democratic systems. The current speaker is the leader of theAmalParty,Nabih Berri.[18]

Deputy Speaker

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TheDeputy Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanonis the second highest-ranking official of theLebanese Parliament.The office is always attributed to aGreek Orthodoxpractitioner.[19]

Parliamentary committees

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The Lebanese parliament has sixteen committees to facilitate the legislative process and provide oversight on specific areas of government policy.[20]The Finance and Budget Committee is considered the most important, as it reviews the government's budget and spending plans. Other influential committees include Administration and Justice, Health and Labor, and Economy and Industry.

List of committees:[21]

  • Administration and Justice Committee (Chairman:Georges Adwan- LF)
  • Finance and Budget Committee (Chairman:Ibrahim Kanaan-FPM)
  • Foreign and Expatriate Affairs Committee (Chairman: Fadi Alameh -Amal Movement)
  • Public Works and Energy Committee (Chairman: Sajeeh Ateya - Independent)
  • Education and Culture Committee (Chairman: Hassan Mrad -Union Party)
  • Public Health, Labor, and Social Affairs Committee (Chairman: Bilal Abdullah -PSP)
  • Defense, Interior, and Municipal Affairs Committee (Chairman: Jihad Al Samad - Independent)
  • Displaced Affairs Committee (Chairman:Hagop Pakradounian-Tashnag)
  • Agriculture and Tourism Committee (Chairman: Ayoub Hmayed -Amal Movement)
  • Environment Committee (Chairman: Ghayyath Yazbek -Lebanese Forces)
  • Economy, Industry, and Planning Committee (Chairman:Michel Daher- Independent)
  • Media and Telecommunications Committee (Chairman:Ibrahim Al Moussawi- Hezbollah)
  • Youth and Sports Committee (Chairman:Simon Abi Ramia- FPM)
  • Human Rights Committee (Chairman:Michel Moussa- Amal Movement)
  • Women and Children Committee (Chairman:Inaya Ezzedine- Amal Movement)
  • Information Technology Committee (Chairman:Tony Frangieh-Marada)

Electoral system

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Main article:Elections in Lebanon

According to the Lebanese constitution[22]and the electoral law of 2017,[23]elections are held on a Sunday during the 60 days preceding the end of the sitting parliament's mandate. In June 2017 a new electoral law was passed. The previous system (under which the 128 members of parliament were elected from 26 multi-member constituencies undermultiple non-transferable vote,and the candidates with the highest number of votes within each religious community were elected)[24]with a new electoral law institutingproportional representationin 15 multi-member constituencies while still maintaining the confessional distribution.[25]However, the 7 out of the 15 of the electoral districts are divided into 2 or more 'minor districts' (largely corresponding to the smaller electoral districts from the old electoral law).[26]Where applicable,preference voteis counted on the 'minor district' level.[27]With the 2017 electoral law, the country switched from a plurality voting system to a list-based proportional representation system.

Parliament building

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Lebanese Parliament Building 1947

The Parliament building was designed byMardiros Altounian,who was also the architect of the Étoile clock tower. The building was completed in 1934 during theFrench Mandateperiod. Advised to build in the spirit ofLebanesetradition, thearchitectvisited the Emirs' palaces in theChouf Mountains.He also drew inspiration from theOrientalstyles developed inParis,IstanbulandCairoat the turn of the 20th century. The building combines Beaux-Arts design with elements taken from local architectural tradition, including twin and triple arch windows. The limestone façade, decorated with recessed panels, arched openings, and tiers of stalactites clads a reinforced concrete frame that also supports the 20-meter (66 ft) diameter cupola covering the chamber of deputies. It represented a major technical achievement at that time.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Boujikian dismissed from Armenian bloc for attending Monday's session".Naharnet.7 December 2022.Retrieved2 June2023.
  2. ^"MPs 2022 – The Free Patriotic Movement".Retrieved2 June2023.
  3. ^"Factbox: What is the make-up of Lebanon's new parliament?".Reuters.17 May 2022.Retrieved2 June2023.
  4. ^"Factbox: What is the make-up of Lebanon's new parliament?".Reuters.17 May 2022.Retrieved2 June2023.
  5. ^"Independent National Bloc Names Mikati for Premiership".kataeb.org.Retrieved2 June2023.
  6. ^"Political shift: National Consensus Bloc emerges with five Sunni MPs".LBCIV7.Retrieved2 June2023.
  7. ^"The 19 Lebanese Forces MPs wrote 'the strong republic' on their papers to confirm that they did not vote for Berri".MTV Lebanon.Retrieved2 June2023.
  8. ^Sabaghi, Dario (1 June 2023)."Have Lebanon's new opposition MPs made a difference?".newarab.Retrieved2 June2023.
  9. ^"Lebanese Kataeb Party – حزب الكتائب اللبنانية".Kataeb Party.Retrieved2 June2023.
  10. ^"ريفي لـ'النهار': نسعى إلى ترتيب البيت السنّي وهذه عناوين حزب 'سند' وأهدافه".annahar.com.Retrieved2 June2023.
  11. ^"MP Michel Mouawad announces parliamentary bloc, 'Independents and Sovereignists'".L'Orient Today.22 June 2022.Retrieved2 June2023.
  12. ^Official website of government.6 June 2015.
  13. ^"ICL - Lebanon - Constitution".www.servat.unibe.ch.Retrieved23 July2019.
  14. ^Lebanon's MPs extend own terms.Al-Monitor.Published: 10 November 2014.
  15. ^"Lebanon's Constitution of 1926 with Amendments through 2004"(PDF).Constitute.Retrieved22 October2023.
  16. ^"Lebanese electoral law 2017"(PDF).Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants.Retrieved22 October2023.
  17. ^"National Pact | Lebanon [1943] | Britannica".
  18. ^"Taif Agreement".Lebanese Parliament | مجلس النواب(in Arabic).Retrieved7 June2022.
  19. ^"National Pact | Lebanon [1943] | Britannica".
  20. ^Committees of the Parliament of Lebanonlp.gov.lb(retrieved 7/25/24)
  21. ^"Here Are The Chairmen & Rapporteurs Of The New Lebanese Parliament Committees".www.the961.com.10 June 2022.Retrieved25 July2024.
  22. ^"Lebanon's Constitution of 1926 with Amendments through 2004"(PDF).Constitute.Retrieved22 October2023.
  23. ^"Lebanese electoral law 2017"(PDF).Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants.Retrieved22 October2023.
  24. ^Electoral systemInter-Parliamentary Union
  25. ^Lebanon passing parliamentary law is a step in right directionGulf News, 16 June 2017
  26. ^Table Attached to Law 44 dated 17/6/2017 (Official Gazette no.27 dated 17 June 2017) – Distribution of Seats to the Confessions and DistrictsACE Project
  27. ^Gulf News.Lebanon to hold parliamentary elections in May 2018
  • Davie, May (1997).The History and Evolution of Public Spaces in Beirut Central District.Solidere.Beirut.
  • Saliba, Robert (2004).Beirut City Center Recovery: The Foch-Allenby and Etoile Conservation Area.Steidel. Göttingen.
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33°53′48.39″N35°30′13.69″E/ 33.8967750°N 35.5038028°E/33.8967750; 35.5038028

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