| Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are propor-tionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. Shia Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Christians and Druze are the main population groups in a country that has been a refuge for the region's minorities for centuries. With its high literacy rate and traditional mercantile culture, Lebanon has traditionally been an important commercial hub for the Middle East. |
LEBANON: A road map to Participatory Democracy
Beirut, Sept. 8.– The past two weeks witnessed the beginning of two important actions that aim at ensuring transparency, access to information, and participatory democracy at the level of public communication within the legislative and executive authorities in Lebanon.
Last week, the General Secretariat of the Lebanese Parliament in partnership with Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) launched the Parliament’s new website that includes updated features and new sections to ensure easier access to information.
The website includes all updates on the work of all Parliamentarian committees. It has an upgraded section for all legislations categorized in a clear way based on their progress status. It also includes a new interactive and participatory section under the title "Contribute to Legislation", that ensures community participation in the legislation process through enabling citizens to track draft laws which are being discussed in the Parliamentarian committees and comment on them through the electronic consultation platform. There is also another section dedicated for submitting a draft law by community members. This is considered a remarkable progress in opening an official institutionalized channel for enabling community members to take an active role in legislation.
Two weeks earlier, the General Directorate of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers launched the “National Observatory” ...
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