IFES Election Guide - Election Profile for Lebanon

Election Profile:

Overview

Results

Of Interest/Links

Sources

Country: Lebanon
Official Name: Lebanese Republic
Election Type: Parliamentary
Date: June 7, 2009

Source for election date

At stake in this election:

128 seats in the National Assembly (Majlis al-Nuwab)

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Mochel SLEIMAN
Head of Government: Prime Minister Fouad SINIORA
Assembly: Lebanon has a unicameral National Assembly (Majlis al-Nuwab) with 128 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by the National Assembly to serve a 6-year term.
In the National Assembly (Majlis al-Nuwab) 128 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.***

*** The electoral system is multiple non-transferable vote (aka block vote) with confessional quotas. For a ballot to be valid, the voter must cast as many votes as there are seats in her constituency. There is no standard ballot, and this has important consequences for electoral dynamics in Lebanon. For details on apportionment and confessional seats, see the 2009 IFES briefing under "Links."

Main parties in the electoral race:

Alliance: March 14 Alliance (M14)
Leader: Saad AL-HARIRI
Seats won in this election: 71
Seats won in last election: 70
Alliance: March 8 Alliance
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this election: 57
Seats won in last election: 58