2011 Lebanese protests
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Lebanese protests have been seen as influenced by the Arab Spring
. The main protests focused on calls for political reform especially against confessionalism
in Lebanon
.
is a parliamentary republic
within the overall framework of confessionalism
, a form of consociationalism
in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution
grants the people the right to change their government, however, from the mid-1970s until the parliamentary elections in 1992, a civil war
precluded the exercise of political rights. According to the constitution, direct elections must be held for the parliament every 4 years. The last parliamentary election
was in 2009, which led to about six months before a new government was formed. The parliament
, in turn, elects a president every 6 years to a single term, he is, however, not eligible for re-election. The last presidential election
was in 2008. The president and parliament choose the prime minister. Political parties are grouped with either the March 8 alliance
or the March 14 alliance
. (the Progressive Socialist Party
of Walid Jumblatt
is ostensibly independent but leans towards March 8 since their withdrawal from the then governing March 14).
Lebanon demographics
is roughly split amongst Sunnis, Shias and Christians
(most of whom are Maronite). Due to the demographic concerns, amid fears the country could be a powder keg
, a census
has not been carried out since 1932. Since then the government has only published rough estimates of the population.
announced that all ten opposition ministers had resigned following months of warnings by Hezbollah that it would not remain inactive should there be indictments against the group by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Preliminary indictments were issued January 17 as expected,) President Michel Suleiman
's appointed Minister of State, Adnan Sayyed Hussein, resigned later bringing the total number of ministers who quit to 11 thus causing the fall of the government. The New York Times suggested that the resignations came after the collapse of talks between Syria and Saudi Arabia to ease tensions in Lebanon. The resignations stemmed from PM Hariri's refusal to call an emergency cabinet session over discussion for withdrawing cooperation with the STL.
Suleiman, who is constitutionally responsible for the formation of a new government, accepted the resignations saying: "In line with clause one of article 69 in the Lebanese constitution
on the circumstances under which the government is considered to have resigned...as the government has lost more than one third of its members...the cabinet [is requested to] act as a caretaker government until the formation of a new government." The March 8 alliance then nominate Najib Mikati
to form a government in line with the accepted norms that a prime minister must be a Sunni (even though most Sunnis are supporters of March 14).
On 13 June, a new government was formed
.
marched along the old demarcation line in the capital Beirut
against the country's sectarian political system
. A peaceful sit-in in Saida
also took place.
and Sidon
.
in which several hundreds of thousands supporters attended in commemoration of the start Cedar Revolution
6 years earlier. The main slogan of the rally was calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah and to renew support for the ideals of the revolution.
.
village to commemorate the Palestinian Nakba Day.
. Fighting broke out between gunmen positioned in the rival neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen (mainly Alawites who support the Syrian regime) and Bab al-Tabbaneh (mainly Sunnis, supporting the Syrian uprising). Among the dead were a Lebanese army soldier and an official from the Alawite Arab Democratic Party
.
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
. The main protests focused on calls for political reform especially against confessionalism
Confessionalism (politics)
Confessionalism is a system of government that refers to de jure mix of religion and politics. It can mean distributing political and institutional power proportionally among religious communities.-Debate:...
in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
Political system
LebanonLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
is a parliamentary republic
Parliamentary republic
A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government - meaning a system with no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. There are a number of variations of...
within the overall framework of confessionalism
Confessionalism (politics)
Confessionalism is a system of government that refers to de jure mix of religion and politics. It can mean distributing political and institutional power proportionally among religious communities.-Debate:...
, a form of consociationalism
Consociationalism
Consociationalism is a form of government involving guaranteed group representation, and is often suggested for managing conflict in deeply divided societies...
in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution
Constitution of Lebanon
The Constitution of Lebanon was adopted on 23 May 1926.The most recent amendment of the Constitution was for the Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation , in October, 1989....
grants the people the right to change their government, however, from the mid-1970s until the parliamentary elections in 1992, a civil war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
precluded the exercise of political rights. According to the constitution, direct elections must be held for the parliament every 4 years. The last parliamentary election
Lebanese general election, 2009
-Background:Prior to the election, the process to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 years was put into motion, but as this requires a constitutional amendment, it did not happen before the election.- Allocation of seats :...
was in 2009, which led to about six months before a new government was formed. The parliament
Parliament of Lebanon
The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year terms in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage...
, in turn, elects a president every 6 years to a single term, he is, however, not eligible for re-election. The last presidential election
Lebanese presidential election, 2008
An indirect presidential election was held in the Parliament of Lebanon on 25 May 2008, after the term of incumbent President Émile Lahoud expired on 24 November 2007 at midnight...
was in 2008. The president and parliament choose the prime minister. Political parties are grouped with either the March 8 alliance
March 8 Alliance
The March 8 Alliance is a coalition of various political parties in Lebanon. It has been the ruling coalition since January 25, 2011 when the alliance managed to nominate Najib Mikati as the new prime minister.-History:...
or the March 14 alliance
March 14 Alliance
The March 14 alliance , named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, as...
. (the Progressive Socialist Party
Progressive Socialist Party
The Progressive Socialist Party or PSP , also known as Parti Socialiste Progressiste in French, is a political party in Lebanon. Its current leader is Walid Jumblatt...
of Walid Jumblatt
Walid Jumblatt
Walid Jumblatt is a Lebanese politician and the current leader of the Progressive Socialist Party . He is the most prominent leader of Lebanon's Druze community.-Family:...
is ostensibly independent but leans towards March 8 since their withdrawal from the then governing March 14).
Lebanon demographics
Demographics of Lebanon
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Lebanon, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
is roughly split amongst Sunnis, Shias and Christians
Christianity in Lebanon
Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history beginning with the visits of Jesus to the southern territories, where he is said to have performed many miraculous healings. Biblical Scriptures reveal that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, whom they affiliated to the ancient...
(most of whom are Maronite). Due to the demographic concerns, amid fears the country could be a powder keg
Powder Keg
A powder keg is a barrel of gunpowder. The powder keg was the primary method for storing and transporting large quantities of black powder up until the 1870s and the adoption of the modern cased bullet...
, a census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
has not been carried out since 1932. Since then the government has only published rough estimates of the population.
2011 new government
On January 12, 2011, the government collapsed after Energy Minister Gebran BassilGebran Bassil
Gebran Bassil is a Lebanese politician,he is also a member of the March 8 Alliance-backed Free Patriotic Movement. Owing to his immense qualifications he served as the Minister of Telecommunications in the Lebanese cabinet from May 2008 to June 2009, and then served as Minister of Energy in the...
announced that all ten opposition ministers had resigned following months of warnings by Hezbollah that it would not remain inactive should there be indictments against the group by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Special Tribunal for Lebanon
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an international tribunal for the prosecution under Lebanese law of those responsible for the assassination of Rafic Hariri on February 14, 2005. The tribunal also has jurisdiction over a series of other attacks in Lebanon if they are proven to be connected...
in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Preliminary indictments were issued January 17 as expected,) President Michel Suleiman
Michel Suleiman
Michel Suleiman or Sleiman is the President of Lebanon. Before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. After LAF commander Émile Lahoud took office as president in November of 1998, Suleiman succeeded him, taking his place in December...
's appointed Minister of State, Adnan Sayyed Hussein, resigned later bringing the total number of ministers who quit to 11 thus causing the fall of the government. The New York Times suggested that the resignations came after the collapse of talks between Syria and Saudi Arabia to ease tensions in Lebanon. The resignations stemmed from PM Hariri's refusal to call an emergency cabinet session over discussion for withdrawing cooperation with the STL.
Suleiman, who is constitutionally responsible for the formation of a new government, accepted the resignations saying: "In line with clause one of article 69 in the Lebanese constitution
Constitution of Lebanon
The Constitution of Lebanon was adopted on 23 May 1926.The most recent amendment of the Constitution was for the Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation , in October, 1989....
on the circumstances under which the government is considered to have resigned...as the government has lost more than one third of its members...the cabinet [is requested to] act as a caretaker government until the formation of a new government." The March 8 alliance then nominate Najib Mikati
Najib Mikati
Najib Azmi Mikati is a Lebanese politician, billionaire and is the current Prime Minister of Lebanon since 13 June 2011. From April 2005 to July 2005 he was Prime Minister of Lebanon in a caretaker government...
to form a government in line with the accepted norms that a prime minister must be a Sunni (even though most Sunnis are supporters of March 14).
On 13 June, a new government was formed
Lebanese government of June 2011
The formation of a new government led by Najib Mikati follows five months of negotiations after the fall of the Saad Hariri government. Mikati formed a 30 minister cabinet.-Background:...
.
27 February
On 27 February, hundreds of LebaneseLebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
marched along the old demarcation line in the capital Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
against the country's sectarian political system
Politics of Lebanon
Lebanon is a parliamentary republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution grants the people the right to change their government...
. A peaceful sit-in in Saida
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
also took place.
6 March
In follow-up rallies to the 27 February demonstration, around 8,000 people marched from Dora to Beirut in the second round of a campaign to "topple the sectarian regime" and its leading symbols and to call for a secular state. Similar protests took place in BaalbekBaalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
and Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
.
13 March
A rally was organised by the March 14 allianceMarch 14 Alliance
The March 14 alliance , named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon that call for sovereignty over all Lebanese territories, led by MP Saad Hariri, younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon, as...
in which several hundreds of thousands supporters attended in commemoration of the start Cedar Revolution
Cedar Revolution
The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...
6 years earlier. The main slogan of the rally was calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah and to renew support for the ideals of the revolution.
20 March
Thousands of Lebanese took to the streets to protest against the sectarian nature of the governing system. This was the third protest against the sectarian political systemPolitics of Lebanon
Lebanon is a parliamentary republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution grants the people the right to change their government...
.
15 May
Ten pro Palestinian protestors were reportedly killed by Israeli soldiers during rallies taking place in Maroun al-RasMaroun al-Ras
Maroun al-Ras is a Lebanese village nestled in Jabal Amel in the district of Bint Jbeil in the Nabatiye Governorate in southern Lebanon...
village to commemorate the Palestinian Nakba Day.
17 June
Seven people were killed and and 59 were wounded in Tripoli, on Friday, June 17. Armed clashes erupted in following a rally in support of Syrian protesters2011 Syrian uprising
The 2011 Syrian uprising is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. Protests started on 26 January 2011, and escalated into an uprising by 15 March 2011...
. Fighting broke out between gunmen positioned in the rival neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen (mainly Alawites who support the Syrian regime) and Bab al-Tabbaneh (mainly Sunnis, supporting the Syrian uprising). Among the dead were a Lebanese army soldier and an official from the Alawite Arab Democratic Party
Arab Democratic Party (Lebanon)
The Arab Democratic Party – ADP or Parti Démocratique Arabe in French, is a Lebanese party, based in Tripoli. Its current leader is Ali Eid.- Origins :...
.