Chamber:
	Majlis Al-Nuwwab
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	18 August 1996 15 September 1996
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	The dates of the 1996 general elections were announced on 7 February by the Interior Minister. They were scheduled over five consecutive Sundays, from 18 August to 15 September, with voting first in the central Mount Lebanon region and then in North Lebanon, the capital Beirut, South Lebanon and finally the Bekaa valley. Shortly before the polling, a controversial Electoral Law was adopted which divided the Mount Lebanon constituency, as opposed to the four others, into several electoral districts. Portions of the law were first invalidated by the Constitutional Council and subsequently restored by the Government as an « exceptional measure ». Opponents of this statute argued that the division was designed to favour certain candidates of the Druze religious community over those of the Christian Maronite majority. As opposed to the previous (1992) elections, the Christian opposition did not boycott those of 1996 and candidates for the Assembly’s 128 seats altogether numbered 487. Thousands of army troops and police were deployed to maintain order during the polling. In the first (Mount Lebanon) round, supporters of the Government of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri won 32 of the 35 seats as the internally divided opposition alleged polling irregularities. Similar allegations were made after the third (Beirut) round when the Prime Minister - who had campaigned, inter alia, for a strong mandate to rebuild the capital - and his supporters captured 14 of the 19 seats over Muslim fundamentalists, whom Mr. Hariri had criticised and labelled as out of place in Lebanon’s multi-religious society. Voter turnout over the five rounds averaged 44%, exceeding the low participation of 1992. The final outcome gave a resounding victory to the Government, consolidating its ties with neighbouring Syria as some 100 Deputies of those chosen supported such close links. Of the competing groups, the most seats were won by the Freedom and Development Party. Under Lebanon’s sectarian-divided governmental system, the Prime Minister is a Sunni Muslim, the President of the Republic (currently Mr. Elias Hrawi) is a Maronite Catholic and the Speaker is a Shi’ite Muslim. On 7 November, President Hrawi issued a decree appointing the new Cabinet, headed again by Mr. al-Hariri.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (18 August 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	2,577,257
Voters	1,137,040 (44.11%)

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Freedom and Development Party	21
Party of National Union	16
Resistance Front	12
Party of Loyalty to the Resistance	9
Party of Beirut Decision	8
Party of Development and Change	8
Party of Armenian Deputies	7
Party of North Metn	5
Party of Kesrouan Deputies	5
Syrian People's Party	5
Independents	23
Others	9

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	125
Women:	3

Distribution of seats according to age:
31-40 years	14
41-50 years	42
51-60 years	43
61-70 years	25
Over 70 years	4