I talk about Lebanon's system of government from executive to legislative, how elections work, and the difficulties it is facing, both within the country and geopolitically.

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Post author By Charlie June 17, 2021
The Government System of Lebanon
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-lebanon/
Lebanon is a small country located in Western Asia and is considered a part of the Middle
East. You may have heard of the country in recent times due to last year’s massive Beirut
port explosion, its recent antigovernment protests, and the activities of the Hezbollah Shia
Islamist militant group and political party within the country, which is thought to have a
powerful sway over the country’s government and politics.
The country is bordered with Israel, the occupied Golan Heights, and Syria, the border
with Israel is a particular flashpoint between Hezbollah, other affiliated militant groups,
and the Israeli military and security forces. Lebanon also has a coast along the
Mediterranean Sea, with Turkey, Cyprus, and Egypt not far. Lebanon’s capital city Beirut
is located on the central coast.
Evidence of human civilization in the area dates back at least seven thousand years
which goes beyond recorded history. The Phoenicians also originated in the area; a
maritime cultural people who would exist for close to three millennia. The Roman Empire
would later conquer the area in 64 BC. The Maronite Eastern Catholic Church originated
in the area, with the religion persisting to this day. Arab Muslims would conquer the
Levant next which included Lebanon, and in the 11 Century another major religion of the
area would emerge, known as Druze, which would spawn a number of powerful feudal
families.
Crusades had attempted to return the area to Christian control, but only the First Crusade
had any kind of success but would not last, with the Ottoman Empire conquering the area
in the 16 Century and who would go on to rule the area for the next four centuries,
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during this time the area enjoyed partial autonomy under emirates. The Ottomans took
direct control from 1865, during this time early nationalist elements would emerge against
Ottoman rule, with a civil war in 1860 and rebellion in 1866, a prominent figure of this time
was Youssef Bey Karam and these events are seen as the earliest points of Lebanese
nationalist resistance.
Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I the state of Greater
Lebanon was established under the French Mandate of Lebanon and Syria. The
unrecognized state of the Arab Kingdom of Syria claimed Lebanese territory as their own
but this was put to an end following the Franco-Syrian War, defeating the self-proclaimed
Arab Kingdom and capitulating the Hashemites.
Greater Lebanon would later be formed into the Lebanese Republic by the French in
1926 giving it a constitution and a democratic parliamentary system of government,
although France kept this Republic under their colonial watch. The country gained a
degree of independence when France was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War
2, during this time the Vichy French regime would play a major role towards Lebanon’s
independence, the Vichy government also allowed Nazis to use the territory of Syria and
Iraq.
The British feared Nazi control over Lebanon and Syria due to what it saw as a weak
Vichy regime beholden to the Nazis, and so the British invaded and occupied Lebanon
and Syria. Charles de Gaulle would later visit Lebanon, but political pressure from Allies
and elements within Lebanon led to the French under de Gaulle recognising Lebanon’s
independence. Despite this it was announced that Lebanon would become independent
under the authority of the Free French government, but elections in 1943 installed a
government that rejected the mandate, which in turn led to France imprisoning the
elected Lebanese government, but were forced to later release them under international
pressure.
The region would be occupied by Allied forces until the end of World War 2. After this
Lebanon managed to secure its independence from the French mandate by joining the
newly formed United Nations, which under UN rules terminated such mandates. In turn
French forces withdrew from the country in December 1946.
Upon independence Lebanon was a country balanced between Maronite Christians, Shia
Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and Greek Orthodox Christians. The country would see brief
prosperity and would support its Arab neighbors during the Arab-Israeli War. The war led
to around 100,000 Palestinians fleeing to Lebanon, with 100s of thousands more coming
into the country over the next decades, the majority of which are stateless and within
refugee camps.
In 1958 religious and political tensions would lead to the Lebanon Crisis, with Lebanese
Muslims wanting to have Lebanon join the United Arab Republic, a short-lived union
between Syria and Egypt. The Lebanese government requested assistance to bring the
situation under control, with 5,000 US Marines deploying to the country to restore order,
following this a new government was formed.

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Further Palestinians entered into Lebanon from 1970 after the Palestinian
Liberation Organisation was defeated in Jordan, leading to more religious, factional and
political tensions and a Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon against Israel. These
mounting tensions would eventually lead to the breaking out of the Lebanese Civil War in
1975, with Christian groups fighting against the Palestine Liberation Organisation, left-
wing Druze, and Muslim militias. President Sarkis would request assistance on the side of
the Christians from the Syrian Army in 1976 with the aim of restoring peace.
The Arab League later agreed to establish a predominantly Syrian Arab Deterrent Force
with a mission of restoring calm to Lebanon. During the civil war the forces of the
Palestine Liberation Organisation also launched attacks against Israel, leading to Israel
invading Lebanon in 1978 in Operation Litani, also known as the 1978 South Lebanon
Conflict. The UN Security Council would pass a resolution asking Israeli forces to
withdraw from the area and put together a UN Interim force to attempt to establish peace.
Israeli forces would withdraw later in 1978, although maintained control of the Southern
region via backing the South Lebanon Army.
But continued fighting between the two sides would see Israel invade again in 1982,
called Operation Peace for Galilee or the 1982 Lebanon War, with an aim to support
Lebanese forces in pushing out the Palestine Liberation Organisation. A multi-national
force of American, French, Italian, and later British forces would deploy to supervise the
evacuation of the PLO. The ongoing civil war also flared back up again after the
Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel was assassinated, who was supported by Israel. A
catastrophic truck bomb attack against the multinational force would also lead to its
withdrawal in 1984.
Differences between religious and political elements prevented a new President from
being elected and an Arab League Summit in 1989 formed the Saudi-Morrocon-Algerian
committee to try and solve the crisis. This led to an accepted peace deal and ceasefire
that brought an end to the civil war in 1990 and the Lebanese Parliament agreed to the
Taif Agreement, outlining a timetable for Syrian withdrawal and formula of de-
confessionalization of Lebanon’s political system which led to equalizing seats reserved
for Christians and Muslims in Parliament which had originally favoured Christians despite
the country being majority Muslim. The war had also devastated the country, of which
affects still linger to this day.
Some sporadic fighting also did continue on between Israel and other Lebanese
resistance such as Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, and the Lebanese Communist Party.
Following the civil war and Israel’s withdrawal, continued Syrian military pressure was
criticized and resisted against by the Lebanese population. In 2005 former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri was killed in a car bombing. The March 14 Alliance formed in 2005, a
coalition of parties and independents with an anti-Syria stance accused Syria of the
assassination, while the March 8 Alliance also formed in 2005, a coalition of parties and
independents with a pro-Syria stance accused Israel of it. Other high profile political
assassinations would follow that of Hariri in Lebanon.

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The assassination of Hariri specifically caused the Cedar Revolution, which demanded
Syrian forces to withdraw and an international commission to investigate the Hariri
assassination. Due to this and international pressure Syrian troops did withdraw by
26 April 2005.
In 2006 Hezbollah launched rocket attacks and raids against Israel and killed a number of
Israeli soldiers, and took others hostage demanding release of Lebanese prisoners, Israel
responded with its own strikes and an invasion of Southern Lebanon starting the 2006
Lebanon War, which was ended by a UN ordered ceasefire in August of the same year.
Since that time Lebanon remained highly unstable and faced a number of other internal
conflicts between militant groups and government forces as well as general civil unrest
against the Government and perceived western influenced Government leaders and
members. The 2008 Conflict in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Amal forces following
the Government’s declaration that Hezbollah’s communications network was illegal, the
war led to the Doha Agreement which saw the government cave to the opposition forces
demands, it also ended 18 months of political stalemate by implementing a national unity
government and granting veto power to the opposition. This government would collapse
in 2011 after expectation of Hezbollah being indicted for the Hariri assassination, which
they deny and accuse Israel of.
From 2012 the spillover from the Syrian Civil War threatened to throw Lebanon into
further turmoil, leading to armed clashes, sectarian violence, and a mass influx of Syrian
refugees, Hezbollah forces also entered Syria to fight on the side of the Bashar Al-
Assad’s government forces. And finally, from 2019 there was further civil unrest over
economic issues, the pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, and yet further turmoil
following the 2020 Beirut port explosion, causing further economic and political crises and
a possible fuel shortage crisis.
The official language is Arabic and French, with the local vernacular language being
Lebanese Arabic. The largest ethnic group is Arabic and the largest religion is Islam, with
their being slightly more Sunnis than Shias, there is also a significant number of
Christians in the country with the largest being the Maronites and around 8% Orthodox.
Druze make up just over 5% of the population. The country’s currency is the Lebanese
pound and the country’s population is over 6,796,960.
Government Type
Lebanon is a democratic parliamentary republic with a President who is Head of State
and a Prime Minister who is Head of Government. There is also a system of
confessionalism actively in practice whereby the highest offices are proportionally
reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. There is a unicameral
parliament called the Parliament of Lebanon that makes up the legislative government.
Multiple parties are allowed.
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Lebanon’s Coat of Arms. Photo by:
Zscout370 at en.wikipedia.org source.
CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Executive Government
Baabda Palace, residence of the President. Photo in Public Domain.
The President
The President is the Head of State and has a number of powers at his/her disposal. The
President ensures the constitution is respected, the maintenance of Lebanon’s
independence, its unity, and its territorial integrity in accordance with provisions of the
Constitution.

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The President can call an extraordinary session of the Parliament. The President must
also convene an extraordinary session of the Parliament if at least an absolute majority of
its members request such.
The President chairs the Higher Defence Council and is the Commander-in-Chief of the
country’s armed forces, although in practice the authority of the armed forces is subject to
the Council of Ministers.
The President signs legislation into law that has been passed by the Chamber of
Deputies. Before this the President has the right to send legislation back for
reconsideration with first having informed the Council of Ministers which cannot be
refused, if the bill is passed again via an absolute majority then the law must be signed by
the President.
The President assumes negotiations to sign international treaties and ratifies them with
the consent of the Prime Minister, after approval of the Council of Ministers. Treaties and
agreements are brought to the attention of the Chamber of Deputies, as soon as safety
and interest of the State permits. Treaties that involve provisions relating to State
finances, trade treaties, and other treaties that cannot be annulled on a yearly basis, must
be approved by the Chamber of Deputies before being ratified.
The President can preside over meetings of the Council of Ministers whenever he/she
wishes, but cannot vote on its topics.
The President appoints the Head of Government following parliamentary elections who is
in charge of consulting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies with respect to
representative mandatory consultations, these results are officially reported to him/her.
The President promulgates a decree appointing the Prime Minister separately.
With consent of the Prime Minister the President promulgates the decree to form the
Government, and decrees to accept the resignations or dismissals of Ministers.
The President independently promulgates decrees to accept resignation of the
Government or to consider it resigning.
The President receives ambassadors and accepts their accreditation.
The President can grant special pardons by decree, but general pardons can only be
granted by law.
The President presents any urgent matters to the Council of Ministers, outside of their
agenda.
In agreement with the Head of Government, the President calls the Council of Ministers to
extraordinary sessions, as he/she deems necessary.

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Decisions made by the President must be countersigned by the Head of Government and
the Minister or Ministers concerned to have effect. This excludes nomination of Head of
Government and decree accepting the Government’s resignation or considering it
resigned.
The President can ask the Council of Ministers to reconsider any of the decisions it has
made within 15 days of the date of depositing it with the President. If Council of Ministers
insists on its decision, or if the time limit expires without promulgating the decree or
returning it, then the decision on the decree is considered in force, and must be
published.
The President can adjourn sittings of the Chamber of Deputies for no longer than a
month, and of which cannot be done more than twice in the same session.
Presidential Removal
The President can be charged for public law breaking, breaking the Constitution, and for
high treason only when at least two-thirds majority of the members of the Chamber of
Deputies decides to pursue as such. If this vote reaches the required majority the
President is impeached and will be suspended from the presidency, which stays vacant,
until the case is decided on by the Supreme Court.
While the presidency is vacant its functions are taken up by the Council of Ministers.
The Supreme Council has 15 judges, seven of whom are elected by members of the
Parliament, and eight who are of the highest-rank Lebanese judges according to the
judicial hierarchy, or according to seniority if there are equal ranks. Impeachment is
decided by a majority of 10 votes.
Prime Minister and Government
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and is appointed by the President
dependent on the outcome of parliamentary elections and any possible coalition
outcomes. The Council of Ministers also makes up the Government and is its highest
decision-making body, the Ministers of this body can be chosen either from among
members of Parliament or outside of it, members of Parliament chosen to be Ministers do
not have to resign their seat.
The Prime Minister represents and speaks in the name of the Government. The Prime
Minister is responsible for executing public policy made by the Council of Ministers. The
Prime Minister conducts the representative consultations for the formation of the
Government, and countersigns with the President of the Republic, the decree of its
formation. The Government’s ministerial program must be presented to the Chamber of
Deputies for a vote of confidence within thirty days from the date of the promulgation of
the decree of formation.
Government cannot assume its functions before a vote of confidence, nor after its
resignation, nor after considering it resigned, apart from in the narrow sense to manage
business.

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To remain in power the Prime Minister and Government must maintain the confidence of
the Chamber of Deputies, they are all collectively responsible for their actions. The
Government is also considered resigned if the Head of Government resigns, if the
Government loses a third of the number of its members, if the Head of Government dies,
when the President of the Republic takes office, or at the beginning of the term of the
Chamber of Deputies.
The Prime Minister and other Ministers can also be charged with high treason or violation
of duties assigned to them by the Chamber of Deputies in a two-thirds vote, this
impeaches the Prime Minister or Minister in question, the charges will then go before the
Supreme Council.
The Prime Minister presides over the Council of Ministers and is the Vice-President of the
Supreme Council of Defense.
The Prime Minister presents the public policy of the Government to the Chamber of
Deputies.
The Prime Minister countersigns decisions of the President of the Republic for them to
have effect. The Prime Minister also signs decrees to open extraordinary sessions and
the decrees promulgating the laws and the request to reconsider them.
The Prime Minister convenes the Council of Ministers and elaborates its agenda, notifies
the President of the Republic of the topics being discussed in advance.
Executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers and it also has authority over the
country’s armed forces. The Council of Ministers have numerous jobs and duties. They
elaborate public policy for the State in all fields, as well as the bills
and organisational decrees, and take the necessary steps for their implementation.
The Council of Ministers takes care of the enforcement of laws and orders, oversees
functions of the State apparatus, such as administrations and civil, military, and
security organisations, without exception.
The Council of Ministers appoints State employees, dismisses them, and accepts their
resignations, according to law.
The Council of Ministers dissolves the Chamber of Deputies at the request of the
President of the Republic due to the following reasons, if the Chamber has abstained, for
other than compelling reasons, from convening during an ordinary session, or during two
extraordinary successive sessions, not less than one month each, or in the case of
rejecting the State budget as a whole for the purpose of paralyzing the hand of the
Government to act. This right/power cannot be exercised another time for the same
reasons which lead to the dissolution of the Chamber in the first time.
The quorum for the Council of Ministers is for two-thirds of its members to be present.
Decisions of the Council of Ministers are taken by consent, but if this is not possible, then
instead by voting, decisions are taken by a majority vote, excluding things coming under

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Basic Issues which require a two-thirds majority to consent/vote.
Basic Issues include amendment of the Constitution, declaring and canceling a State of
emergency, war and peace, public mobilization, international accords and treaties, state
budget, overall development plans, and long term, appointing employees of the first cadre
and its equivalent, reconsidering the redistricting, dissolving the Chamber of Deputies,
elections law, nationality law, personal affairs law, and dismissing the Ministers.
Ministers direct and oversee their departments, managing State interests, responsible for
implementing laws and orders within their competence and jurisdiction. They
have responsbility for their personal actions and all Ministers are collectively responsible
before the Chamber of Deputies for the State public policy.
Ministers cannot simply just be removed and replaced, dismissing a Minister from their
position requires the Council of Ministers to a Confidence vote on the Minister in question,
a two-thirds majority is required for them to resign, in this case the President of the
Republic signs a decree dismissing the Minister which is countersigned by the Prime
Minister. This shows that the Prime Minister, although Head of Government, does not
have outright authority and the opinion of the Council of Ministers plays a strong role.
The Legislative Government
Meeting place of the Lebanese Parliament. Photo by Heretiq from Wikimedia Commons. CC
BY-SA 2.5. Source.

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The Parliament of Lebanon is a unicameral parliament known as the Chamber of
Deputies which currently has 128 members. Its main purpose is to have legislation
introduced to it, for such to be debate, possibly amended and either passed or rejected,
the Parliament also votes on the annual Srtate Budget. Legislation can be introduced by
members of the Chamber of Deputies and by the Council of Ministers. The Chamber of
Deputies also has the job of electing the country’s President every 6-years, explained in
greater detail under the Electoral System section below.
Closed sessions of the Parliament may be held at the request of the Government or at
least five members of the Parliament. Seats that become vacant should hold an election
within two months, the person elected serves out the remainder of the term. If the seat
becomes vacant six months before the next general election then the election for the seat
will take place at that election.
Members may only be removed on a resolution supported by at least a two-thirds majority
for reasons supported by the constitution. If the Parliament is dissolved fresh elections
must be held within three months.
There is a President and Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies, they are elected
separately and by absolute majority to serve the same term as the Parliamentary term. If
voting reaches a 3 round then the winner is based upon proportional majority. If votes
are equal, the oldest candidate is considered elected. The President of the Chamber of
Deputies keeps order and ensures rules are abided, and represents the Chamber of
Deputies in an impartial manner.
The President and Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies can be removed only after
two years having served, can remove one or the other, only once, by a majority of two-
thirds based upon a petition signed by at least 10-members. The position will then be
elected again.
After each renewal and at the October session each year two secretaries are also elected
via the same rules.
The Electoral System
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Image by Syanarion62 from Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source.
Presidential elections happen every 6-years, candidates are nominated by the Chamber
of Deputies and then elected by a two-thirds majority in the first round, if no one reaches
that then the winner is determined by absolute majority in a second round. The same
person who served as President cannot be nominated again for consecutive terms, but
can be nominated again after having waited a term.

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Parliamentary elections are meant to take place every 4-years to elect the 128 members
of Parliament, members are elected using a proportional representation system from
multi-seat constituencies. The system also goes by confessional distribution whereby a
number of seats are reserved for recognised religious communities, specifically an equal
Christian and Muslim balance, with the largest number of seats held by Maronite
Christians, Sunni Muslims, and Shia Muslims, the three largest religious groups in the
country.
There exists a Constitutional Council which has a job of reviewing the constitutionality of
legislation, and decide on protests and disputes that result from presidential and
representative elections. Those who can resort to this council are the President of the
Republic, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Prime Minister, members of the
Chamber of Deputies, and the Heads of legally recognised sects. Organization,
functioning and composition of this Council is decided by law and not set by
the constitution.
To vote in elections one must be a Lebanese citizen who is at least 21-years-old. Voting is
not mandatory.
Sources
The source for this post comes from Lebanon’s 1926 constitution with amendments
through to 2004 (constituteproject.org) and so should be as up to date as possible but as
always there is a chance I missed some things or misinterpreted other things and the
constitution can be amended again and that may lead to this post eventually becoming
outdated, and so cross research is recommended if using this seriously.
Amendments to the constitution can be proposed by the President of the Republic and
then introduced as a Government bill to the country’s parliament, adoption requires a two-
thirds majority in Parliament.
An amendment can also be proposed by at least 10-members of the Parliament
supported by a two-thirds majority of all members legally constituting the chamber to
introduce it. The proposal is then reviewed and approval by at least two-thirds majority of
the Government Cabinet is required, if this is approved it is then submitted to the Cabinet
for drafting as an amendment and introduced to the Chamber which requires a two-thirds
majority to adopt it and promulgation by the President of the Republic.
The Cabinet can reject a proposal from the Chamber for an amendment and send it back
for review of the Chamber, if a three-fourths majority of members insist on the
amendment then the President of the Republic can either respond to the wish, or ask the
Council of Ministers to dissolve the Chamber for fresh elections. If after elections the new
Chamber still insists on the amendment, the Government must then introduce the
amendment within four months, adoption by Chamber requires two-thirds majority.

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