Constitution, Political System and Elections

First - The status quo:

1. The failure to comply with the Constitution, which lies at the core of the social contract, results in crippling the state institutions and prioritizing the interests of the sectarian parties over the public interest.
2. The disruption and “domestication” of constitutional institutions impede the establishment of authority and turn constitutional entitlements into existential crises rather than opportunities to exercise democracy for a smooth rotation of power.
3. The so-called consensual democracy paralyzes the state and harnesses its capabilities to serve the beneficiaries of political sectarianism, not the citizens. And if citizens benefit in any way, they are reminded of it as a favor. 
4. Politicizing state institutions and departments leads to growing corruption and crippled institutions every time a political crisis presents itself.
5. Authority is being exercised outside the scope of constitutional institutions. Therefore, it does not respect them but rather takes advantage of them.
6. The current political performance has made it impossible to introduce reforms, and this has become a threat to the state’s components.
7. There is currently no separation of powers, and the system of checks and balances between them has been disrupted. Hence, it has created a political class that is not subject to any effective control, accountability or liability, and which renews its own term.
8. Distorting the true meaning of political action in Lebanon has associated the word "politics" with corruption, exploitation, clientelism, and nepotism.
9. The electoral laws that have been adopted until present do not allow for representation based on citizenship, and the recently passed law remains far from what is aspired to in this regard; it enshrines sectarianism and clientelism and the fear from others.
10. The low rate of participation in the elections outside the scope of political alignments indicates the extent of despair and frustration that has struck the Lebanese people.

Second - The principles:

1. Freedom is acquired, not given. Hence, if the Lebanese citizens want to be free, they must free themselves.
2. An effective state is the one that reassures the citizen and preserves his entity, environment, health, and security.
3. An effective state is the one that guarantees a decent life for its citizens and encourages them to invest in their country with long-term economic projects that would create, in turn, stable job opportunities and reduce migration.
4. An effective state guarantees a strong democratic system and preserves the country's sovereignty and standing worldwide.
5. The democratic system is the sole guarantor of a fair and unifying state in a pluralistic society like Lebanon.
6. All forms of violence must be rejected, a constructive dialogue must be adopted, and people’s opinion should be respected in the process of settling disputes and conflicts between citizens and parties. All this is at the heart of democracy.
7. Both the citizen and civil society have the duty to voice their opinions and can do so.
8. The aim of elections is to represent the citizens’ will, and not to promote sectarianism and clientelism.
9. Through the process of elections, voters grant a temporary and specific mandate granted by voters to the elected person so that they can represent and respect their will, which in no way minimizes his sovereign post.
10. The elected or appointed politician is entrusted with the citizens’ interests; he/she is subject to their will and is held accountable when he defaults on his duties.

Third - The vision:

1. The Constitution’s provisions must be respected and scrupulously enforced because it is the only way of safeguarding the state and achieving justice and equality among citizens. Since its foundation, the National Bloc Party has always been adamant on abiding by the Constitution.
2. The Constitution must be immunized and developed through mechanisms that aim to prevent attempts to impede the constitutional institutions’ work.
3. The separation of powers must be activated by separating parliamentary posts from governmental ones, especially the ministerial ones, and there must be time limits for elected or appointed political officials.
4. Politicians must be held accountable and liable in case they misrepresent the citizens, refrain from fulfilling their duties or backtrack on their obligations, and this should be done through the establishment of shadow institutions for deputies and ministers.
5. A constitutional amendment must be enacted in order to prevent deputies from defaulting on their duty to attend parliamentary sessions, especially the electoral sessions.
6. Laws criminalizing conflicts of interests, corruption, waste, and misuse of public funds must be developed and strictly enforced.
7. The mechanisms for the formation of governments should be reconsidered to adopt a democratic majoritarian parliamentary system, and national unity governments must only be formed in cases of utmost necessity, such as a state of war, which would eliminate the practice of disruption and new concepts like the “blocking third”.
8. Any attempt to disrupt or circumvent the Constitutional Council’s decisions or to disrupt its meetings must be curbed by exposing all those who engage in such acts through a shadow institution.
9. The members of the Constitutional Council and the judicial system, in general, should be appointed on the basis of competence and integrity, not political affiliation, and the Council’s independence must be fully secured.
10. Lebanon must be adamant on the media’s impartiality, and shall enhance its professionalism, enabling it to restore its role as the fourth authority.
11. Consider the adoption of the single-member constituencies in parliamentary elections.
12. Raise awareness about the benefits of the single-member constituency, the most important being the interactions between citizens and candidates and allowing discussions to convince citizens & allow them to participate in policy making, rather than limiting their role to voting. Also, Lebanese officials should not oblige citizens to vote.
13. The army must be allowed to vote as the military coup d'état ideology does not exist in Lebanon. Therefore, there is no pretext to prevent them from exercising this right and duty.
14. Vote buying must be harshly criminalized, in addition to attempts aimed at circumventing the financial threshold for electoral campaign.
15. A female quota should be established for a given period until all obstacles to women’s participation in the political life are eliminated.
16. The voting age must be reduced to 18 years. A nation afraid of its youth is a failure; they are the backbone of change and accountability.
17. Lebanese should be allowed to select their main residential address (instead of the area where they are registered) as the basis for voting in elections.

Back to Our Vision page