A video has been produced explaining how the Lebanese government is set up in regards to the 18 officially recognized sects in Lebanon.
It isn’t the first time Seeker Daily, a Youtube channel, makes a video about Lebanon. They recently made one discussing why Lebanon is fractured by the conflicts in the Middle East and how other countries have an influence on it.
They cover the history of how this system came to be and how it stems from the Ottoman Empire’s rule over Lebanon from 1516 to 1918. This made way to the system Lebanon has in place today, called confessionalism, which sets up a balance of power among the religious sects.
One of the main issues of this video is the percentage of the demographics (already a debate in itself) but specifically how the Lebanese diaspora has been omitted from it. The numbers don’t add up because it is slightly off in the video.
The population of Lebanese in Lebanon is 54% Muslim (27% Shia and 27% Sunni), 40.4% Christian, and 5.6% Druze. These numbers don’t account for the estimated 20-30 million Lebanese living abroad, the vast majority (approximately 85-90%) of whom are Christians. Of those tens of millions of Lebanese, roughly half hold Lebanese citizenship.
It also mentioned how there has been no census in almost a hundred years. However, there have been several independent and reliable polls done in the past few years. The polls also show a growing Christian population with a matching birth rate as Muslims.
They also mention the balance of power within the Lebanese government, specifically in the parliament. They briefly discuss the March 8 and March 14 alliances and of whom it’s composed
The video was well made, though. They managed to explain the context and the complicated topic in a very effective way.
