Confessional breakdown


Lebanese parliament members number 128 deputies, evenly divided between Moslems and Christians, and further divided by sect as follows:

While the number of deputies who are members of political parties does not exceed 35 deputies (belonging to 10 parties), the greatest influence on the workings of the Chamber of Deputies comes from parliamentary groupings and alliances. These groupings are composed along 3 foundations:

• Voting alliances, composed of a variety of political, religious, and party affiliations.
• Affiliation and support for one party or political line.
• Joint political and economic positions that comprise a number of deputies who are bound by them.

However, participating in such coalitions is not permanent, rather, it is always subject to the entry and exit of members in accordance with existing political and voting considerations. Often, groupings are affected at the time of the formation of governments or during presidential elections, when individuals enter or exit a coalition under the influence of voting assurances.

Major parliamentary groups


As for the four major groups that currently dominate the parliament, they are:

• The Resistance and Development Group, headed by Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri and composed of 17 deputies, 7 of whom are affiliated with the Amal Movement. However, religiously they are divided into 12 Shiites, 2 Catholics, 1 Maronite, 1 Sunnite and 1 Druze.

• The Beirut Decision Group, headed by the Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and composed of 18 deputies, 3 of them affiliated to the Hanshak Party, The Progressive Socialist Party and the Ramgavar Party. Religious divisions are: 6 Sunnites, 3 Armenian Orthodox, 2 Orthodox, 1 Shiite, 1 Druze, 1 Armenian Catholic, 1 Maronite, 1 Catholic, 1 minority, and 1 Anglican.

• Group of the Loyalty to the Resistance, which follows Hizbullah and is composed of 15 deputies, 8 of which are members of Hizbullah. They are divided according to sect as: 9 Shiites, 2 Sunnites and 1 Maronite.

• The Democratic Meeting Group, headed by Deputy Walid Jumblatt and composed of 15 deputies, 5 of whom are affiliated with the Progressive Socialist Party and divided religiously as follows: 6 Maronites, 4 Druze, 2 Sunnites, 1 Shiite, 1 Catholic, 1 Orthodox.

It emerges that these four groupings are composed of 62 deputies, which comprise almost half of the Chamber of Deputies. As for the second half, they are divided into 11 groupings (three are party groupings) and comprise 42 deputies, while the remaining 24 deputies are independent. These groupings are as follows:

• Metn Solidarity Group, comprising 3 deputies divided as follows: 1 Orthodox, 1 Maronite, 1 Catholic.

• People’s Group, comprised of 5 deputies, divided religiously as follows: 2 Catholics, 1 Maronite, 1 Sunnite, 1 Shiite.

• West Bekaa Group, comprised of 3 deputies, distributed religiously as 1 Maronite, 1 Druze, 1 Sunnite.

• The North Group comprised of 8 deputies distributed as 3 Maronites, 3 Sunnites, 1 Orthodox, 1 Alawite.

• The Tripoli group comprised of 4 deputies, religiously distributed as 3 Sunnites and 1 Orthodox.

• The Pride and Renewal Group, composed of 5 Maronites.

• The People’s Decision Group, composed of 3 deputies distributed as 2 Maronites and 1 Shiite

• The Baath Party Group composed of 3 deputies: 1 Alawite, 1 Shiite, 1 Sunnite.

• The Phalange Party Group, composed of 3 Maronite deputies, 2 of whom do not abide by the Phalange party leadership.

• The Syrian Social Nationalist Party Group comprised of 4 deputies distributed religiously as follows: 2 Orthodox, 1 Maronite, 1 Catholic.

• The Armenian Group, composed of 2 deputies, 1 of them affiliated to a political party.

Observations

• Three of the major groups are dominated by a majority from one sect,
• Three of the smaller groupings are characterized by a mixture of political parties and sects.
• The composition of small groupings is mainly made up of Christian sects
• Walid Jumblatt’s Democratic Meeting Group maintains a Christian majority.
• In the secular group known as the Baath Party Group, there is no Christian representative, and the other non-confessional group, The Syrian Social Nationalist Party Group, does not have a Moslem representative.

Recognizing the relationship between these groupings and the dominance of four major groups on the Chamber of Deputies permits one to understand the mechanics of lawmaking in the Chamber and its observance of government performance.