THE LEBANESE POLITICAL SYSTEM

The division of the Lebanese system:
Since the end of World War I, after the Ottomans had been defeated by the Allied Powers specifically Britain and France, split up the remaining Arab territories. France took control of the Lebanese and Syrian mandate, while England took over the Palestinian, Trans-Jordan, and Iraqi mandates. A wave of Arab nationalism swept across the Arab world thereafter, with fierce opposition from the local people towards the controlling mandate. The mandate continued until 1946, at which point the French government handed over independence to Lebanon in which the system was based on confessional lines. The President was to be Christian, the Prime Minister, Sunni Muslim, and the Head Speaker of Parliament Shi’ite Muslim. The division by the French of the Lebanese political system caused opposing religious groups to spread apart. Interests between Muslims and Christians began to spread as certain groups wanted to separate from “Arab unity†while others were passionate about joining the Arab cause. Gamal Abdel-Nasser’s unity movement was having a widespread effect across the Arab world, which caused a wave of threat to Arab governments around th

The current political system was agreed upon in the Ta’if agreement which was agreed upon in Ta’if, Saudi Arabia. Different Lebanese leaders from different factions gathered in order to determine the fate of a post-war Lebanon and discuss amendments to the constitution. One of the major differences was that executive power, previously entrusted to the President of Lebanon, was now handed over to the Council of Ministers which would represent a more sectarian-balanced sharing of the executive power. In the post-war Lebanese government, the Parliament and the Council of Ministers propose laws. There is also an article in the Constitution for a Senate that will represent different groups to secure that not one group has the majority in political voice. The Senate, however, is mentioned in the Constitution yet to this day, it does not exist. Another major attribute of the new political system is the shift in the political representation of the different sects. Parliament members amount to 108 members in the new political system. The ratio of Muslims to Christians is 5:5 in the parliament, with 54 Christians and 54 Muslims represented. Alawites, a relatively small sect in Lebanon, were able to finally join the Lebanese political system through representation in parliament with two seats. The new distribution was as follows: Maronites, 34 seats; Sunni, 27 seats; Shi’ite, 27 seats; Greek Orthodox, 17; Druze, 8; Armenian Orthodox and Greek Melchites, 5 each; and Armenian Catholics and Protestants. One seat in parliament is reserved for remaining groups. This more balanced system of government gives more power to Muslims, which are estimated to be sixty-five percent of the population today. The system of government today is parliamentary, where the parliament along with the Council of Ministers creates the majority of laws and holds the majority of executive and legislative power. In 1998, eight years after the Ta’if agreement, President Emile Lahoud was elected to power. This saw extension o