National Pact

This article is about the 1943 agreement in Lebanon. For the National Pact passed by the last Ottoman Parliament, see Misak-ı Millî.

The National Pact (Arabic: الميثاق الوطني) is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state, and has shaped the country to this day. Following negotiations between the Shi'ite, Sunni, and Maronite leaderships, the National Pact was born in the summer of 1943 allowing Lebanon to be independent. Among the following key points of the agreement are for:

Agreements
the Maronites not to seek foreign intervention and accept Lebanon as an Arab affiliated country, instead of a Western one
the Muslims to abandon their aspirations to unite with Syria
the President of the Republic always to be Maronite
the Prime Minister of the Republic always to be Sunni
the President of the National Assembly always to be Shi'a
the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and the Deputy Prime Minister always to be Greek Orthodox
the Chief of the General Staff always to be Druze
Parliament members to be in a ratio of 6:5 in favour of Christians to Muslims (Binder 1966:276)

A Christian majority in the 1932 census, widely considered to be manipulated in their favour, was the underpinning of a government structure that gave the Christians control of the presidency, command of the armed forces, and a Parliamentary majority. However, following a wider trend, the generally poorer Muslim population has increased faster than the richer Christians. Additionally, the Christians were emigrating in large numbers, further eroding their only marginal population edge, and it soon became clear that Christians wielded a disproportionate amount of power. As years passed without a new census, dissatisfaction with the government structure and sectarian rifts increased, eventually sparking the Lebanese civil war (Randal 1983: 50).

The Taif Agreement of 1989 changed the ratio of Parliament to 50:50 and reduced the power of the Maronite president.

See also

• Politics of Lebanon

References

• Ayubi, Nazih N., "Over-stating the Arab State", London: I.B. Tauris, 1995, pp 190–191.
• Binder, Leonard. "Politics in Lebanon". New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1966.
• Randal, Jonathan. "Going All the Way: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers, and the War in Lebanon". New York: The Viking Press, 1983.

External links

• A short but detailed description of the National Pact