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Lebanon

Monthly Event Reports

April 2023 | Parliament postpones municipal elections

On 18 April, the Lebanese parliament voted to postpone municipal elections for a second time. Municipal elections are supposed to be held every 6 years and were originally due to take place in May 2022. At that time, they were postponed for 12 months as they coincided with the parliamentary elections. This second postponement entails an extension of the terms of local officials who were elected in 2016 for a maximum of one year (until 31 May 2024). This additional postponement is due to the failure of the fragmented cabinet to approve legislation that would allocate funding for the election. The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections issued a statement condemning the vote, described as ‘undermining the democratic process and the principles of good governance’ and claims the extension is depriving citizens of the democratic process and the right to elect their representatives.

February 2023 | Investigation into port explosion and economic collapse obstructed

After a 13-month stalemate generated by legal complaints and pressure by political elites, lead investigator Judge Tarek Bitar announced that the inquiry into the deadly Beirut port explosions of 2020 would resume at the end of January 2023. Bitar indicted, among others, eight senior officials, including Lebanon’s Prosecutor General Ghassan Oweidat and former Prime Minister Hassan Diab. The decision to resume the investigation was challenged by Oweidat, who issued charges against Bitar for allegedly ‘exceeding his powers.’ Similarly, targeted politicians filed at least 25 complaints requesting that Bitar and other judges involved in the case be dismissed. Interrogations were suspended from 6 February until these legal complaints have been adjudicated. Similarly, efforts to advance a stalled probe into the banking sector’s corruption and economic mismanagement –which contributed to Lebanon’s 2019 financial system collapse – were obstructed in February by Prosecutor General Oweidat. The lead investigator, Judge Ghada Aoun, charged two senior bankers for money laundering, and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh for money laundering, illicit enrichment, and embezzlement. Oweidat and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati requested that Aoun halt all investigative work. Oweidat further instructed the security forces not to implement Aoun's judicial decisions.

November 2022 | Lebanon’s political and economic crisis deepens amid presidential vacuum

Lebanon’s Parliament failed to elect a new president amid a political deadlock. The presidential vacuum marks a new phase in Lebanon’s crisis that began with a financial collapse in 2019, and further instability is expected. The country remains without a head of state and has a Cabinet with limited powers since the former President, Michel Aoun, left office on 31 October after completing a six-year term without Parliament’s consensus on a successor. Following Aoun’s departure, Lebanese lawmakers ruled on 3 November that the caretaker government led by Najib Mikati is the country’s legitimate executive authority and can assume the powers of the president in accordance with the constitution.

October 2022 | Fears of constitutional crisis as parliament fails to elect president

Prime Minister Najib Mikati and President Michel Aoun resumed consultations on cabinet formation after a pause that lasted several weeks but without a breakthrough. President Aoun’s mandate came to an end on 31 October, leaving behind a power vacuum as parliament failed to elect his successor on several occasions. Divisions remain among political blocs over the makeup of a new cabinet and without a president and limited caretaker government, Lebanon’s political crisis deepens. The continuing failure to form a new cabinet means crucial economic reforms (including lifting banking secrecy and addressing the plummeting exchange rate) remain unimplemented, raising the prospect of popular unrest.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
6 769 150
System of government
Parliamentary system
Head of government
Prime Minister Najib Mikati (since 2021)
Head of government party
Azm Movement
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
6.3%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2022
Head of state
President Najib Mikati (Acting)
Selection process for head of state
Indirect election (assembly)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
18/01/2021
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
60.27%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
Signatory
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Signatory
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
No Action
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
Arab Charter on Human Rights
State Party
in
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Categories of Democratic Performance

Representation neutral Representation
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
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/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
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/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Annual value

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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