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Lebanon's parliament approved a new electoral law on June 16th, 2017, and several political activists and “alternative” parties are already preparing themselves for the next elections on May 6th 2018.
Lebanon's civil society has actively called over the last year for a law based on proportional representation, as well as a series of reforms that are considered to be necessary for the transparency of the electoral process. With the new law in place and with the parliament's term expiring on June 20th 2018 Lebanese civil society is now preparing itself for the participation in the upcoming elections, after the current parliament extended its term for the second time since 2013.
Unlike the former winner-takes-it-all system, the new law will see proportional representation implemented for the first time in Lebanon. While no single bloc claimed dominance and the final agreement left out several major points called for by certain parties, it was praised as the first fully home-grown electoral law. It remains hard to predict how the new system of voting - with its new proportional representation, redrawn districts and preferential votes - will affect the outcome.
The booklet contains an explanation about the democratic system and its relationship to the elections, the implications of using a system of electoral systems and its obligations, the electoral terms and the regulations. It should encourage the Lebanese citizens and parties to change their perception towards the impact and effectiveness of elections and help boost their electoral awareness via raising their social responsibilities based on democracy and human rights standards.
The booklet is released in an Arabic and an English version (see on the right).
