Politics of Lebanon

Lebanese Republic الجمهورية اللبنانية(Arabic) Al-Jumhūrīyah al-Lubnānīyah
Flag of Lebanon
Polity type	Unitaryparliamentary republicdemocratic republic
Constitution	Constitution of Lebanon
Legislative branch
Name	Parliament of Lebanon
Type	Unicameral
Meeting place	Parliament Building inBeirut
Presiding officer	Nabih Berri,Speaker
Executive branch
Head of state
Title	President
Currently	Vacant
Appointer	Electedby Parliament
Head of government
Title	Prime Minister
Currently	Najib Mikati
Appointer	President, on parliament’s advice
Cabinet
Name	Council of Ministers
Leader	Prime Minister
Appointer	The Prime Minister with the President
Judicial branch
Name	Judicial branch

Lebanonis aparliamentarydemocraticrepublicwithin the overall framework ofconfessionalism,a form ofconsociationalismin which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. Theconstitution of Lebanongrants the people the right to change their government. However, from the mid-1970s until the parliamentary elections in 1992, theLebanese 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 in2009another election was not held until2018.TheParliament,in turn, elects apresidentevery six years to a single term. The president is not eligible for re-election. The last presidential election was in2016.The president and parliament choose theprime minister.Political partiesmay be formed; most are based on sectarian interests. 2008 saw a new twist to Lebanese politics when theDoha Agreementset a new trend where the opposition is allowed a veto power in theCouncil of Ministersand confirmed religious confessionalism in the distribution of political power.

Overview

TheMaroniteCatholicsand theDruzefounded modernLebanonin the early eighteenth century, through the ruling and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism"inMount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.Since the emergence of the post-1943 state and after the destruction of the OttomanCaliphate,national policy has been determined largely by a relatively restricted group of traditional regional and sectarian leaders. The 1943National 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 ofChristianstoMuslims,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: thepresident,aMaronite Christian;thespeakerof the Parliament, aShi'a Muslim;and theprime minister,aSunni 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 1989Taif 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 (majorityage for election is 21)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 theNapoleonic 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 domesticpolitical parties,some even predating independence, exists. The largest are all confessional based. TheFree Patriotic Movement,TheKataeb Party,also known as the Phalange Party, theNational Bloc,National Liberal Party,Lebanese Forcesand theGuardians of the Cedars(now outlawed) each have their own base among Christians.AmalandHezbollahare the main rivals for the organizedShi'avote, and the PSP (Progressive Socialist Party) is the leadingDruzeparty. 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'sSunniparties includeHizb ut-Tahrir,Future Movement,Independent Nasserist Organization(INO), theAl-Tawhid,andAhbash.Besides the traditional confessional parties above, new secular parties have emerged amongst whichSabaaand theParty of Lebanonrepresenting 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'athparties,socialistandcommunistparties) that were active in the 1960s and throughout the period ofcivil 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 delicateMuslim–Christian–Druzebalance 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,predominantlySunni 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 PresidentÉmile 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 ministerRafic Haririwas assassinated in February 2005. Following the withdrawal ofSyrian troopsin April 2005, Lebanon heldparliamentary electionsin 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 theRafik Hariri Martyr List,a coalition of several parties and organizations newly opposed to Syrian domination of Lebanese politics.

In January 2015, theEconomist Intelligence Unitreleased a report stating that Lebanon ranked the second inMiddle Eastand 98th out of 167 countries worldwide forDemocracy Index2014. 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 Beirutkilled 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.

In May 2022, Lebanon held its firstelectionsince a painful economic crisis dragged it to the brink of becoming afailed state.Lebanon's crisis has been so severe that more than 80 percent of the population is now considered poor by theUnited Nations.In the election Iran-backed Shia MuslimHezbollahmovement and its allies lost their parliamentary majority. Hezbollah did not lose any of its seats, but its allies lost seats. Hezbollah’s ally, PresidentMichel Aoun'sFree Patriotic Movement,was no longer the biggest Christian party after the election. A rival Christian party, led bySamir Geagea,with close ties to Saudi Arabia, theLebanese Forces(LF), made gains. SunniFuture Movement,led by former prime ministerSaad Hariri,did not participate the election, leaving a political vacuum to other Sunni politicians to fill.

Executive branch

The Grand Serail also known as the Government Palace is the headquarters of theprime minister of Lebanon

Main office-holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	vacant	N/A	31 October 2022
Prime Minister	vacant(Najib Mikaticaretaker)	Azm Movement	14 May 2022
Speaker of the Parliament	Nabih Berri	Amal Movement	20 October 1992

Thepresidentis elected by theParliamentfor a six-year term and cannot be reelected again until six years have passed from the end of the first term.Theprime ministerand deputy prime minister are appointed by the president in consultation with the Parliament; the president is required to be aMaronite,the prime minister aSunni,and thespeakerof the Parliament aShi'a.(Seelistof 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

Main article:President of Lebanon

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.

Following the end of theLebanese Civil War,the president lost some powers to theCouncil of Ministersthrough theTaif Agreement;being the sole person who appoints it, however, theyde factostill retain all (or most) of their pre-Taif powers.

Legislative branch

Lebanese parliament building at Place de l'Étoile in Beirut

Lebanon'snational legislatureis called theAssembly of Representatives(Majlis al-NuwabinArabic). Since the elections of 1992 (the first since the reforms of theTaif Agreementof 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 areconfessionally distributedbut elected byuniversal 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 oppositionQornet Shehwan Gathering,a group opposed to the former pro-Syriangovernment, has claimed that constituency boundaries have been drawn so as to allow manyShi'aMuslims to be elected from Shi'a-majority constituencies (where theHezbollahParty 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 theChamounadministration in the 1950s).

The following table sets out the confessional allocation of seats in the Parliament before and after theTaif Agreement.

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

Current parliament

Main article:2022 Lebanese general election

March 8 Alliance(caretaker government)(60)

• Strong Lebanon Bloc(16)
  • Free Patriotic Movement(16)
• Development and Liberation Bloc(15)
  • Amal Movement(14)
  • Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party(1)
• Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc(15)
  • Hezbollah(13)
  • Independents(2)
• March 8 Affiliates(10)
  • Independents(5)
  • Marada Movement(2)
  • Al-Ahbash(2)
  • PNO(1)
  • Union Party(1)
  • ARF(3)

March 14 Alliance(38)

• Strong Republic Bloc(22)
  • LF(19)
  • NLP(1)
• Renewal Bloc
  • Independence Movement(2)
  • Sanad Movement(1)
  • National Dialogue Party(1)
• Ex-Future Movement(8)
• Kataeb Party(5)
• Islamic Group(1)

Other Opposition (30)

• Civil Society(13)
  • Independent(4)
  • Taqaddum(2)
  • Tahalof Watani(1)
  • LCP(1)
  • ReLebanon(1)
  • Beirut Tuqawem(1)
  • Khatt Ahmar(1)
  • Lana(1)
  • Osos Lebanon(1)
• Democratic Gathering Bloc(9)
  • PSP(8)
  • Independents(1)
• Independents(8)

Judicial branch

Lebanon is acivil lawcountry. Its judicial branch is composed of:

• Ordinary Courts:
  • OneCourt of Cassationcomposed of nine chambers
  • Courts of Appeal (in the centre of everygovernorate)
  • Courts of First Instance
• Special Courts:
  • TheConstitutional Council(called for in theTaif Agreement) rules on constitutionality of laws
  • TheSupreme Councilhears 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.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties, seeList of political parties in Lebanon.An overview on elections and election results is included inElections in Lebanon.

Lebanon has numerouspolitical 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 theParliamentafter 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

Lebanon participates in the international community through both international organizations and enacting international policy practices, such as the Sustainable development goals and theParis Agreement.

Member organizations

ABEDA,ACCT,AFESD,AL,AMF,EBU,ESCWA,FAO,G24,G-77,IAEA,IBRD,ICAO,ICC,ICRM,IDA,IDB,IFAD,IFC,IFRCS,ILO,IMF,IMO,Inmarsat,ITUC,Intelsat,Interpol,IOC,ISO(correspondent),ITU,NAM,OAS(observer),OIC,PCA,UN,UNCTAD,UNESCO,UNHCR,UNIDO,UNRWA,UPU,WCO,WFTU,WHO,WIPO,WMO,WTO.

Sustainable development goals

This section is an excerpt fromSustainable Development Goals and Lebanon.[edit]

Sustainable Development Goals and Lebanonexplains major contributions launched in Lebanon towards the advancement of theSustainable Development GoalsSDGs and the 2030 agenda.

Lebanon adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. It presented its first Voluntary National Review VNR in 2018 at theHigh Level Political Forumin New York. A national committee chaired by the Lebanese Prime Minister is leading the work on the SDGs in the country.In 2019, Lebanon's overall performance in the SDG Index ranked 6th out of 21 countries in the Arab region.

Multi-stakeholder forums were held by different UN agencies including theUNGlobal 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.

See also

• Foreign relations of Lebanon
• Environmental policy of Lebanon
• History of Lebanon
• Lebanese diaspora
• Lebanese identity card
• Lebanese passport

External links

• Lebanonofficial government portal
• Lebanon GovernmentatCurlie
• The Lebanese Politics Podcast