Lebanon's unwritten Constitution

<p>Beirut, <em>Asharq Al-Awsat</em>—Lebanon’s unwritten constitution has, as anywhere, arisen from tradition. In other words, any practice in Lebanese society that has affected government and which has been repeatedly practiced has become part of the constitution, so long as nobody objected to it too vocally. One of the eldest of these traditions is, perhaps, the division of power along sectarian lines that has arisen since 1943, known as the confessional system. In that year, when Lebanon was liberated from the French mandate, the country’s leaders met and agreed to the unwritten “National Pact,” which divided power—in particular, seats in the new parliament—between Christians and Muslims in a 6:5 ratio. The president and the heads of the army and public security would all be Maronite Christians. A Shi’a Muslim would be appointed Speaker of Parliament, and a Sunni Muslim would be Prime Minister. Though this arrangement was not written down, changing it was one of the causes of the devastating civil war that ended in 1990, with the signing of the Taif Agreement.
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