Upon independence in 1943, Lebanon established a unique confessionalist form of government, with the major religious sects apportioned specific political powers. Will You Support NCR This Election Season? Since the emergence of the post-1943 state and after the destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate, national policy has been determined largely by a relatively restricted group of traditional regional and sectarian leaders. The 1943 National 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. In 2011, hundreds of protesters rallied in Beirut on 27 February in a Laïque Pride march, calling for reform of the country's confessional political system. (FYI: These three religious traditions are numerically the largest in this country. [3], The CIA World Factbook estimates (2018) the following (data do not include Lebanon's sizable Syrian and Palestinian refugee populations): Muslim 61.1% (30.6% Sunni, 30.5% Shia, smaller percentages of Alawites and Ismailis), Christian 33.7% (Maronite Catholics are the largest Christian group), Druze 5.2%, and very small numbers of Jews, Baha'is, Buddhists, and Hindus.[4]. [6], The President is elected by the Parliament for a six-year term and cannot be reelected again until six years have passed from the end of the first term. : Send your thoughts and reactions to Letters to the Editor. Sunnis are also present in rural areas including Akkar, Ikleem al Kharoub, and the western Beqaa Valley. Political blocs are usually based on confessional and local interests or on personal/family allegiance rather than on political affinities. Lebanese Shias are concentrated in Southern Lebanon, Baalbek District, Hermel District and the south Beirut (southern parts of Greater Beirut). Well, come to Lebanon! The Supreme Council hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed. Since then, the President is always a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minster is always a Sunni Muslim and the Speaker of the Parliament is always a Shia Muslim. The largest are all confessional based. Lebanon became independent in … Religion plays a big role in politics; some researchers describe the political system in Lebanon as "coming out of the womb of religion and politics". Imagine this: Suppose the U.S. Constitution required that the president of the United States be a Presbyterian, the speaker of the House be a Catholic, and the president of the Senate be Jewish? Following the explosion and protests against the government, the Prime Minister and his cabinet resigned. Each religious community has an allotted number of seats in the Parliament. Here, the president of the country must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the Parliament must be a Shiite Muslim. The following table sets out the confessional allocation of seats in the Parliament before and after the Taif Agreement. Palestinian refugees, predominantly Sunni Muslims, whose numbers are estimated at between 160,000–225,000, are not active on the domestic political scene. Greek Catholics are found everywhere but in particular in districts on the eastern slopes of the Lebanese mountain range and in Zahle where they are a majority. 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. Learn more here. Secular student clubs from Saint Joseph University (USJ), the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA), as the American University of Beirut (AUB) also participated in the march. Although Lebanon is a secular country, family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance are still handled by the religious authorities representing a person's faith. Nonetheless, many of the provisions of the national pact were codified in the 1989 Taif Agreement, perpetuating sectarianism as a key element of Lebanese political life. He did not mention any other favors he offered or received.