Lebanon's confessional power-sharing
Also called: Confessionalism · Topic: Power-sharing: Majoritarianism versus Accommodation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Power-sharing"
Meaning
Lebanon's confessional power-sharing reserves the country's top posts by religious community. "Confession" here means a religious community. The posts are shared out as follows:
- President: Maronite Christian;
- Prime Minister: Sunni Muslim;
- Deputy Prime Minister: Orthodox Christian;
- Speaker: Shi'a Muslim.
The National Pact (1943) set up this allocation. The Taif Agreement (1989) ended the civil war (1975-90) and kept the allocation. It also moved power from the President to the Council of Ministers and made Parliament 50:50 Christian–Muslim, up from the earlier 6:5 ratio.
Example
In NCERT's story, Khalil's father is an Orthodox Christian and his mother a Sunni Muslim. Under this system Khalil can never become President, so the system shuts out mixed citizens like him. It is also rigid: Lebanon has had no census since 1932. The presidency stayed empty for two years until January 2025 (verify current).
Don't confuse with
- National Pact vs Taif Agreement: the Pact (1943) created the allocation of posts, and Taif (1989) ended the war and kept it. NCERT mixes the two dates.
- India's reservations: India reserves legislative seats for SCs and STs. It never reserves executive posts for a religious community.