Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
Confessionalism
Confessionalism is a system that proportionally allocates political power to a country’s communities according to their proportion of the total population. Lebanon’s confessional formula was consecrated following independence from France in 1943. The formula for allocation was revised following the Taif Agreement that ended the civil war in 1989. The nature of the confessional system over time created opportunities for political movements seeking assistance from outside forces to improve their political position.
Distribution of Political Posts in Lebanon by Religion
President: Maronite Christian
Prime Minister: Sunni Muslim
Speaker of Parliament: Shi’a Muslim
Deputy Speaker: Greek Orthodox
Minister of Defense: Druze
Commander of Armed Forces: Maronite Christian
Ratio of Muslims to Christians in Parliament: 50/50 (originally 6/5 with a Christian majority, but ratio was revised in the 1989 Taif Agreement)
Political Leaders in Lebanon
Emile Lahoud
President (since 1998)
President Emile Lahoud has faced increased pressure to resign since the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The pro-Syrian president has said he will stay until his term expires in late 2007.
Fouad Siniora
Prime Minister
A former finance minister and friend of the late PM Rafik Hariri, Siniora was chosen as premier after the victory of anti-Syrian March 14th alliance in the 2005 elections. He promised to continue Hariri’s campaign of reforms, and has proceeded with plans for an international tribunal to investigate Hariri’s assassination. The UN secretary general hopes to appoint judges in the trial by the end of 2007.
Nabih Berri
Speaker of the Parliament
Nabih Berri is a pro-Syrian Shi’a and leader of the opposition Amal party. Berri formed an alliance with Hezbollah during the 2005 elections, and he opposes Hezbollah disarmament.
Hassan Nasrallah
Secretary General of Hezbollah
Nasrallah has been the secretary general of Hezbollah since 1992. Hezbollah has grown considerably under Nasrallah’s leadership, and particularly since Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 He has been less successful however in his efforts to build a coalition that could oust the anti-Syrian majority. Hezbollah’s civilian rebuilding efforts since the 2006 conflict with Israel also have been slow, despite Iranian financial backing.
Michel Aoun
Leader of Free Patriotic Movement
Recently returned from a 15 year exile in France, Michael Aoun is a former prime minister of Lebanon and was the leader of the Christian anti-Syrian faction during the Lebanese civil war. While his party bases its support in the Christian middle class. Aoun now has formed an alliance with Syrian-Iranian aligned Hezbollah against the Siniora government, which he claims is corrupt.
Walid Jumblatt
Leader of Progressive Socialist Party
A Druze politician, Jumblatt is a member of the ruling March 14th coalition. In 1983, during the Lebanese civil war, he presided over the sectarian cleansing of Christians from Lebanon’s mountains, but in 2001 he sealed a reconciliation with the Maronite patriarch on behalf of the Druze. Politicians associated with Jumblatt now often receive Christian support. He supported Syria until the death of Hafez al-Assad, and now is a leading advocate for Lebanese sovereignty.
