BACKGROUND
When Lebanon got their independence,
they adopted their flag with red
symbolizing the blood of martyrs that had
been shed in the revolution of November
1943, the color white symbolizing the snow
that appears on the mountains of Lebanon
during the winter meaning a symbol of
purity and peace, and the cedar tree that
had been derived from Mount Lebanon and
symbolizes holiness and eternity and
resilience of tradition. Lebanon is a
democratic republic and has a
parliamentary system of government that
includes a President, a Prime Minister, and
a cabinet chosen through an electoral
process. The structure of the government is
based on the constitutional principle of
separation between the executive, the
legislative, and the judicial branches.
THE PRESIDENT
There was not a President in Lebanon for
over a year because the parliament cannot
come to an agreement on who they wanted
to lead the country. Michel Aoun ended the
two-year stalemate in 2016. The 1943
National Pact entails the president must be
a Maronite Christian, but because more
Muslims live in the country than Christians
now, presidency has become more of a
symbolic role and its power has decreased.
The Taif Agreement made the Council of
Ministers and Prime Minister take over most
of the presidents duties.
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President of
Lebanon, Michel Aoun. Elected Oct. 31, 2016
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei
THE PARLIAMENT
The Parliament has 128 seat is
divided among religious groups:
Muslims and Christians. Hezbollah, a
heavily armed Shiite Muslim group
backed by Iran, holds 12 seats in the
Parliament. Its political bloc, March 8,
holds 57 of 128 seats, which means
that Hezbollah has a significant
amount of influence inside the
government. It is very hard for the
parliament to come to an agreement
on certain topics.
T HE COU RT SYST EM
The office of the District Court Administrator was
created in 1974 to decrease the load of
administrative duties of the Judges of the Court of
Common Pleas. It provides technical assistance
and administrative support to various
departments of the Court Other Court business
includes receiving applications for the 10% Bail
Program, personnel, fiscal operations, budget,
jury management, scheduling, public relations,
and liaison functions with various groups and
agencies.
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