Fair Elections in Lebanon Petition

To all my fellow Lebanese citizens, if you agree on the below, please sign at Fair Elections in Lebanon Petition.

To: His Excellency Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General, New York,

CC: Heads of the world’s democratic states, the European Parliament, UN Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch.

The past couple of years Lebanon has been ravaged by a series of blows to the country’s democratic system leading it into a political stalemate, endangering Lebanese independence, constitution, democracy and national security. In light of the problematic situation our dear country faces today, where political sovereignty is absent from almost every aspect of our decision-making process, we take this opportunity to address you by means of this letter.

First, we would like to stress the impact of recent events of the past two years following the withdrawal of the Syrian troops in May 2005 from our mainland. To start, the 2005 parliamentary elections were held under an electoral law commonly referred to as the Ghazi Kanaan Law (named after the longtime head of Syria's security apparatus in Lebanon) and viewed as unfair by the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, and also by the EU commission supervising the elections at that time when their report specifically stated that "The current electoral system does not respect the principle of equality of votes. Also, the delimitation of electoral constituencies does not respect this principle."
Moreover, they involved major acts of vote-buying and extreme sectarian incitement yielding a parliamentary majority that would later dissolve the Constitutional Council, a judiciary council responsible for the procession of appeals, by passing a law to dissolve that particular council, thus paralyzing the only judiciary institution that can contest the legitimacy of the current majority.
Moreover, the parliamentary majority was unfairly elected thanks to what is known as the Quadripartite Alliance between the ruling majority and Hezbollah which subsequently collapsed.

Secondly, the above-mentioned events coupled with the lack of governmental action in attempting to resolve the resulting problems, have led us to the recent standoff between government and opposition.

We would like to convey to you, your Excellency, that the democratic processes in Lebanon has been carried out unfairly as proven by the government’s disregard for the wishes of its people. Furthermore, the upcoming presidential elections are in danger of being conducted under in an undemocratic and unfair environment that we fear will only further undermine more than one Lebanese community’s right to participate in political decision making. On the threshold of the twenty-first century, this we feel is something that the international community, the keeper of the international bill of human rights, should not accept idly.

A- Lebanese constitution and the presidential elections quorum:

In accordance with Article 49 of the Lebanese Constitution, the President of the Republic is to be elected by secret ballot and by a two-thirds majority of the Parliament. The two-thirds majority presence and voting is also referenced in Article 79 of the Constitution with regard to matters requiring a two-thirds vote.

Ever since Lebanon’s independence in 1943, all presidential elections even during the civil war were held in the presence of at least two-thirds of the parliament, and a precedence has been set when the parliament refused to vote Bashir Gemayil in 1982 without the presence of the required 2/3 quorum. Above all, Paragraph D of the Preamble clearly states that the people are the source of authority and sovereignty and as such they shall exercise these powers throughout constitutional institutions.

The current parliamentarian majority outlined above is endorsed by many of its leading figures as evidenced in their public statements as a means to elect the new Lebanese President.

B- Separation of religion and state to be respected:

As part of a multi-confessional society, Lebanese institutions have adopted the secularity of government allowing the freedom of religious exercise. The combination of these two principles ensures a clear separation of religion and state, and is a common legal doctrine in almost every country in the world that has adopted a democratic system of governance whereby citizens convey their wishes to the parliament and the decision-making institutions by electing their own officials.

In Lebanon, after the first parliamentary election in 2005, and irrespective of the flaws stated earlier regarding that process, the people elected their representatives.
Unfortunately, those representatives are now being sidelined and their role is being blocked by the constant interference of religious figures in political issues and delicate matters. At times this interference is clearly intentional and direct and at times indirect by their assuming certain public points of view when asked by third parties, to decide on behalf of the people's representatives of the same religious group.

Those third parties are either international envoys and public figures, or local politicians who prefer to deal with religious figures and consider them as representatives of their religious groups regarding both political and public issues.

C- Power vaccum scenario and the legitimate institutions

In the fateful event that the parliament is unable to elect a President and the Presidency becomes vacant, Article 62 notes that the government then exercises the powers of the President by delegation.

Unfortunately after the resignation of all the Shia ministers and the failure to replace them, our current government is considered constitutionally illegitimate as it violates Article 95 of the Lebanese Constitution and Paragraph J of its Preamble, which both confirm that confessional groups are to be represented in a just and equitable fashion in the Cabinet and that there is no constitutional legitimacy for any authority which contradicts the 'pact of communal coexistence'.

Given the current political crisis, the timeline of events mentioned above, the multiple threats to our democratic process and the unfairness we face in light of all the above infringements, we, the undersigned, refuse the following:

• Any Presidential elections by a simple majority rather than the constitutional two-thirds quorum.
• Any foreign interference, whether regional or international.
• The interference of clergy in the upcoming elections, including nominations.
• The marginalization of an entire confessional group by sidelining its political representatives.
• An illegitimate government seizing control of the country in the case of presidential vacuum.


With regard to the above, we, the undersigned, demand that the:

• Lebanese Constitution be respected by all parties.
• Foreign interference in the presidential elections cease.
• Interference of the clergy be brought to a halt.
• Elected representatives of each confession be respected.
• Lebanese Army assumes control of the state in case of a vacuum and prepares for early parliamentary elections under a fair electoral law respecting the people's wishes for good representation and a fresh start for a new fair democratic process with respect to the constitution.


Should a President be elected by a simple majority and against the wishes of the majority of the population, we believe Lebanon’s problems are bound to worsen and cause instability in both the country and adjoining region.
Furthermore, we consider that the UN General Assembly, or any UN member state, supporting the legitimacy of the current government and any possible acknowledgment of a president that is voted with a quorum of 1/2 thus violating the constitution is a violation of the UN Charter (Chapter I Article 2, Item 7).
In light of this threat, we expect Your Excellency to take the appropriate steps to ensure that democratic and fair presidential elections are conducted in accordance with the guidelines outlined above.

Finally, we the undersigned, thank you, your Excellency, for the time and effort you have invested in reading our petition and rely on your keen judgment regarding the matters at hand and hope our message will only bring the Lebanese people closer together by strengthening and respecting the values stated in our common social contract and putting Lebanese democracy on the path towards a brighter future.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned.