Lebanon is an Asian country located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, sharing a border with Syria and Israel. The population of this country is approx 52,96,000 with 10,452 square kilometers area. Official languages are Arabic and French. Ethnically 95% are Arab and 4% are Armenian. Lebanese are of various religions, including 28% Sunni Muslim, 28% Shia Muslim, 22% Maronite Christian, 8% Greek Orthodox Christian, 5% Melkite Greek Catholic Christian, 4% Armenian Orthodox Christian, 5% Druze. Being so religiously diverse and being one of the most turbulent places in the world, they have adopted a strange political system - and that is the division of political seats on the basis of religion. In the context of decades of religious conflict, this system has improved the situation somewhat. However, that is not applicable elsewhere in the world or even in Lebanon for a long time.
Now let's discuss the positive aspects of the Lebanese constitution. Almost nothing is there. Judges and senior civil servants are not eligible to be elected to be the President during the term of office, or within two years of resignation or retirement.
Now let's discuss the general negative aspects. The vote of no confidence in Parliament will be public. In many cases, voters may wish to remain anonymous for their own safety. According to Article 41, is it reasonable to have a gap in the highest institution of the state for a certain period?
Admirable Articles of Lebanon's Constitution
Article 12
Every Lebanese has the right to public employment, without any distinction, except on qualification and merit according to the conditions laid down by the law. A special code shall be established to safeguard the rights of employees in the areas to which they belong.
Article 35
The Chamber meets publicly. However, it may convene in a closed meeting, if requested by the Government or five of its members. It may decide to rediscuss the same topic in a public meeting.
Article 49 (Part of it)
The President of the Republic is the Chief of State, and the symbol of the unity of the Homeland.
The judges and the civil servants of the first category or the equivalent category in all public administrations, public bodies and other public law corporations are not eligible to be elected during the exercise of their official functions and during the two years following their resignation and the actual termination of their functions or the date of their retirement.
Facts of Lebanon's Constitution
Article 19
A Constitutional Council is established to review the constitutionality of the laws, and to decide on the disputes and protests resulting from the presidential and the representative elections.
The right to resort to this Council, with respect to watching the constitutionality of the laws, is due to the President of the Republic, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, and the Prime Minister, or to the members of the Chamber of Deputies, and to Heads of the legally recognized sects, with respect to personal affairs, freedom of belief and the exercise of religious rituals, and freedom of religious education. The rules concerning the organization, the functioning and the composition of the Council and the application to it are established by law.
Article 22
With the election of the first Chamber of Deputies on a national basis, not sectarian, a new Senate shall be established in which all religious communities are represented and whose power shall be limited to supreme national causes.
Article 24
The Chamber of Deputies consists of elected representatives whose number and the manner of the election are determined by the electoral laws in effect.
Until the Chamber of Deputies issues an Electoral Law, outside the sectarian record, representative seats are distributed according to the following rules:
● Equally between Christians and Moslems.
● Proportional between the sects of both sides.
● Proportional among districts.
Exceptionally, and once, representative seats vacant at the date of publishing this Law, and the seats created by the Electoral Law, are filled totally by appointment by a two- thirds majority of the National Détente Government, in implementation of the equality between the Christians and the Moslems, according to the National Détente Document. The Electoral Law determines the details of the application of this Article.
Article 50
When the President of the Republic assumes his office, he has to take the oath of loyalty to the Nation and the Constitution, before the Parliament, according to the following text:
"I swear by Almighty God to respect the Constitution of the Lebanese Nation and its laws, and to maintain the independence of the Lebanese Homeland, and its territorial integrity.”
PART VI. CONCLUDING AND TEMPORARY PROVISIONS
Article 95
The Chamber of Deputies, elected on the basis of half Moslems and half Christians, must take the appropriate measures to eliminate political sectarianism, according to an interim plan, and the formation of a National Council under the presidency of the President of the Republic consisting, in addition to the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the Prime Minister, political, intellectual and social notables.
The mission of the Council is to study and suggest the means capable of eliminating the sectarianism, and introducing them to the Chamber of Deputies and the Council of Ministers, and to follow up on the interim plan.
In the transitory period:
● The sects are fairly represented in the formation of the Cabinet.
● The rule of sectarian representation is abrogated. Jurisdiction and efficiency are adopted in public employment, the Judiciary, the military and security establishments, the public and mixed organizations, according to the exigencies of national harmony, with the exception of the jobs of the first rank and the equivalence of the first rank therein. These jobs are equally divided between Christians and Moslems without specifying any job to a specific sect, taking into consideration the two principles of jurisdiction and efficiency.
