Lebanese President Emile Lahoud

President Lahoud of Lebanon has been reelected for three more years. This decision was not made by the Lebanese people, as would have been normal, but from Syria.

This is not the first time that the Syrian Baath regime has violated the Lebanese constitution. Since 1989, Damascus has appointed the president of Lebanon. Before this, Lebanon was one of the very few democracies in the Middle East with a written constitution (since 1926). Today, being occupied by the Syrian regime, Lebanon has lost the major features of its democracy: Liberty and human rights. In 1989, the Syrian regime named Elias Hrawi as President of Lebanon and pressured Lebanese members of parliament to also declare him president. Almost all Lebanese newspapers reported that the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) announced that the Lebanese parliament had ‘elected’ Elias Hrawi as President 15 minutes before it actually occurred. Six years later, President Hrawi asked the Syrians to renew his term for an additional three years. Since the Syrian regime was pleased with Hrawi’s cooperation, the head of Syrian Intelligence in Lebanon, General Ghazi Kanaan, gave his approval. The Lebanese parliament took care of the formalities in one session; they amended the constitution and reinstated Hrawi as President. Three years later, Elias Hrawi went to Damascus to ask for a renewal of his term, but President Assad did not grant this due to deep discontent amongst the Lebanese. Syria decided to select a Lebanese military man, namely Emile Lahoud, as the future President of Lebanon. It is not news anymore that Syria appoints the president of Lebanon. It is certainly a very peculiar situation, though, for a country where politicians say they enjoy a democratic regime.

The Lebanese constitution may not have been amended in 1989 or now, if the Lebanese diaspora had the chance to vote. However, this is not the case. Many Lebanese citizens reside abroad, and they are only allowed to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections if they reside in Lebanon. There are more Lebanese who reside abroad than live in Lebanon. For example, the Lebanese population living in Lebanon is about 3 million, whereas the number of Lebanese living in Brazil is approximately 8 million. ...more