The illusion of change

by Zeina Ammar April 30, 2018

written by Zeina Ammar April 30, 2018

Lebanon is set to elect 128 Members of Parliament (MPs) on May 6, based on a long-awaited proportional system. Proportionality, in theory, ensures better representation of the population by allocating for each list a number of seats that is proportional to the number of votes it received. This is a clear step up from the majoritarian rule whereby all seats within an electoral district are allocated to the list with a simple majority of votes, which can leave more than half of voters unrepresented. However, the picture is not as straightforward in Lebanon, where the representativeness is called into question by several factors inherent to the law itself. An elimination threshold Elimination thresholds are not uncommon in elections around the world. Unlike here, however, they are usually set at a low and fixed percentage. The Lebanese law introduces a district-specific threshold (the total number of valid votes in a district

Zeina Ammar

Zeina Ammar is an experienced Social Protection Programme Officer who has worked with the International Labour Organization from May 2022 to January 2024. With a background in advocacy and communications, she served as the Advocacy & Communications Manager at the Anti-Racism Movement (ARM) in Beirut, Lebanon, from September 2019 to October 2021. Zeina has also worked as a researcher and external project evaluator for Oxfam and as a technical consultant for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor's degree in Political Studies from the American University of Beirut.

The illusion of change

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