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, romanized: al Mithaq al Watani) is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multiconfessional state following negotiations between the Shia, Sunni, and Maronite and Druze leaderships. Erected in the summer of 1943, the National Pact was formed by the then-president Bechara El Khoury and the prime minister Riad Al Solh. Mainly centered around the interests of political elites, the Maronite elite served as a voice for the Christian population of Lebanon while the Sunni elite represented the voice of the Muslim population.[1] The pact also established Lebanon's independence from France.

Key points of the agreement stipulate that:

Lebanese Muslims[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Year Percent
1932
 
 42%
1985
 
 75%
2010
 
 54%
2012
 
 53.5%
2020
 
 67.8%
Lebanese Christians[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Year Percent
1932
 
 51%
1985
 
 25%
2010
 
 40.5%
2012
 
 41%
2020
 
 32.4%

A Christian majority of 51% in the 1932 census 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.[citation needed] 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.[10] The Taif Agreement of 1989 changed the ratio of Parliament to 1:1 and reduced the power of the Maronite president; it also provided that eventually, the Parliament would become bicameral, with a Senate representing religious communities and a Chamber of Deputies chosen on a non-sectarian basis. It is commonly believed that once this Bicameral Parliament is established, the Senate would have a 1:1 Christian-to-Muslim ratio similarly to the current Parliament[11] and the President of the Senate would be required to be a Druze,[12] in accordance with the dictates of the National Pact.

  1. ^ Krayem, Hassan. "The Lebanese Civil War and the Taif Agreement". American University of Beirut. Archived from the original on 2018-10-15. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  2. ^ Binder 1966: 276
  3. ^ a b "Contemporary distribution of Lebanon's main religious groups". Library of Congress. 1988. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Contemporary distribution of Lebanon's main religious groups". theodora.com. 1988. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b Tom Najem (July 1998). "The Collapse and Reconstruction of Lebanon" (PDF). Durham Middle East Papers (59). University of Durham Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. ISSN 1357-7522. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Lebanon: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor - International Religious Freedom Report 2010". U.S. Department of State. 17 November 2010. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Lebanon: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor - 2012 Report on International Religious Freedom". U.S. Department of State. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b "The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  9. ^ "The Lebanese Demographic Reality- 2013" (PDF). Lebanese Information Center.
  10. ^ Randal 1983: 50
  11. ^ [1] Archived 2022-08-28 at the Wayback Machine - "In view of this, various proponents of bicameralism have suggested that rather than trying to re-invent the wheel with an entirely new formula, one should base the Senate's composition on the parliamentary scheme adopted at Ta’if, a chamber divided equally between Muslims and Christians with proportional breakdowns thereafter [...] To the extent that the average person has spent any time thinking about how to compose a Lebanese Senate, this formula is probably the most widely supported and would likely have the best chance of being adopted."
  12. ^ [2] Archived 2022-08-28 at the Wayback Machine - "Certainly the most commonly encountered idea associated with the proposed Senate is the baseless notion that it will have to be headed by a Druze. Why? Because, so the theory goes, the three largest sects (Maronites, Sunnis, and Shi`a) each have their own "presidencies" while the fourth-largest sect does not. Obviously, this idea which is based on the logic of apportioning power on a sectarian basis runs against the entire de-confessionalist project. Nonetheless, the "Druze Senate Leader" meme remains a stubborn component of the popular mythology surrounding the Senate."