| Horoscope |
|---|
|
|
|
| |
|
Lebanon Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Lebanon
Official Name: Republic of Lebanon
Capital: Beirut
Area: 10,400 square kilometres ( 4,015 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Beirut 1,500,000 (1988 estimate)
Tripoli 500,000 (1985 estimate)
Sayda 38,000 (1988 estimate)
Population: 3,009,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 3.3 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic
Independence: 22 November 1943 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Constitution: 23 May 1926 (amended)
Voting Rights: Compulsory for men at age 21; authorized for women with elementary education at age 21
Government
It is stipulated that Lebanon’s president must be a Maronite Christian and the prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, while the president of the National Assembly must be a Shiite Muslim. Since 1990 the National Assembly has had an equal number of seats reserved for Christians and Muslims. Other changes introduced in 1990 include the transfer of executive power from the president to the prime minister and a cabinet made up of equal numbers of Christians and Muslims. At the age of 21, voting is mandatory for men and authorized for those women who have had primary school education.
Recent History
After World War I, Lebanon became a French protectorate. In 1926 Lebanon became a semi-autonomous republic. In 1944 the country gained full independence, but French troops did not withdraw until 1946. A government was established to represent the major religious groups, of which Christians were the majority. The president was to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the president of the national assembly a Shiite Muslim. All religious groups were to receive representation in the National Assembly according to their numbers. For more than 30 years Lebanon enjoyed relative peace and stability, although in 1958 United States Marines were sent in to restore order after Muslims accused the president of rigging an election.
Christians maintained majority representation in the National Assembly even though by the 1970s they no longer formed the majority of the population. However, real power rested not with elected leaders but with a wealthy elite and a class of warlords. Little prosperity reached the ordinary people, many of them Shiite Muslims, who expressed their discontent with riots and demonstrations. A further complication was the presence of thousands of Palestinian refugees, who had fled to Lebanon after the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 to 1949 and 1967. The Palestinians lived mainly in refugee camps in southern Lebanon. After the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was established in 1964, Palestinian guerrilla fighters began training in the camps. From 1968 they began to make military raids from southern Lebanon into Israel, and Israel retaliated with attacks on southern Lebanon. This increased the division between Lebanese Christians (many of whom supported government control of the Palestinians) and Lebanese Muslims (most of whom supported the Palestinians).
In the early 1970s the conflict intensified, and Christian groups began armed fighting against the Palestinians. In 1975 the conflict deteriorated into civil war, during which some 30,000 people were killed. After more than 50 failed ceasefire agreements, a truce was eventually established in 1976. Notwithstanding the ceasefire, the armed forces of the warring groups were not dissolved, and the country grew more fragmented. Radical Muslim groups controlled west Beirut and most of northern Lebanon, and Palestinians controlled much of southwestern Lebanon. In 1978 and again in 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon signed a peace treaty in 1983 that called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Lebanon, but Syrian, PLO, and Israeli troops remained and civil war erupted again late in 1983. By March 1984, after 300 US and French soldiers were killed, the multinational peacekeeping forces withdrew, but the fighting continued.
In 1982 President-elect Bashir Gemayel, leader of the Christian militia, was assassinated, and his brother, Amin Gemayel, was elected president. Two days later, apparently in retaliation for Bashir Gemayel's assassination, troops of the Phalangists—right-wing Christians—massacred many Palestinians in the refugee camps of Shatila and Sabra in west Beirut. Amin Gemayel served as president until his term expired in 1988, when he appointed a six-member interim military government.
The appointed members refused to cooperate, and Lebanon was threatened with division into Christian and Muslim states. Fighting erupted in March 1989 and continued until 23 September, when a ceasefire took effect. A charter of national reconciliation was proposed, providing for equal representation of Christians and Muslims in the National Assembly and cabinet, and the disbanding of all militias within six months. The military government denounced the charter, but the National Assembly approved it and elected Maronite Christian René Mouawad as president.
Mouawad was assassinated 17 days later. Elias Hrawi, another Maronite, was then elected president. In 1991 the Lebanese army, with Syrian support, regained control over much of the country. Under a peace treaty, militias withdrew from Beirut and the Lebanese army established control. The “Green Line” that had divided the city into Christian and Muslim zones was removed, and businesses began reopening despite the devastation. By mid-1991 most militias had disarmed in recognition of the government's authority. A treaty of mutual friendship was signed with Syria, providing for joint institutions to govern economic, defence, and foreign policy issues. Israel considered the treaty as part of the conversion of Lebanon into a Syrian protectorate, and some Lebanese considered it a menace to Lebanon’s independence. Israeli and Palestinian forces continued to attack each other in the southern part of the country.
Fifteen years of civil war left Lebanon’s economy in ruins and its political institutions shell-shocked. Nonetheless, parliamentary elections were held in 1992, and plans to rebuild the country’s infrastructure were announced in 1993 by Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Southern Lebanon has remained troubled by violence, however, and more Israeli reprisals against Hezbollah bases occurred in 1994 and 1996. Syrian troops remain in Lebanon.
|
|
