Notably, these appointments maintained the usual sectarian profile of each position, except for three posts where rotation between the Maronites, the Sunni and the Greek Orthodox was applied. The functions of the Directorate General of Personal Status at the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities, which were traditionally allocated to the Sunni, were handed over to the Maronite, while the Sunni were vested with the Directorate General for Local Administrations and Councils, a right that has been preserved for the Greek Orthodox. Instead, the latter was accorded the position of ‘Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Traffic and Vehicle Management Authority’ at the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities, which, according to established norms, previously belonged to the Maronite community.

 

The 40 appointments performed by Tamam Salam’s government in Grade 1 posts were distributed by sect as follows:

-    Sunni: 10 posts

-    Shia’a: 7 posts

-    Druze: 4 posts

-    Maronite: 11 posts

-    Greek Orthodox: 5 posts

-    Greek Catholics: 1 post

-    Armenians and minorities: 2 posts
 

Table 1 illustrates the sectarian distribution of posts and the names of appointees.
 

 











 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of the Lebanese administration’s Grade 1 posts, 33 are currently vacant, some of which have been unfilled for years. By sect, the vacancies are distributed as follows:

 

-    Urban Planning Director General (2005)

-    Head and director of OGERO (October 2005)

-    Director General and Head of the Legal and Administrative Affairs at the Presidency of the Republic (September 2006)

-    Member of the Council for South Lebanon (2006)

-    President of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (The Council’s tenure expired in 2009 and the President continues to assume his functions)

-    Director General of Civil Aviation  (December 2010)

-    Director General of the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (The IDAL’s tenure expired in January 2009 and the Director General continues to hold his position)

-    Head of the Higher Relief Committee (November 2013)

 

-    Director General of the Ministry of the Displaced (2002)

-    Director General of the Committees and Sessions’ Affairs in Parliament (April 2013)

 

-    Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs (June 2005)

-    Secretary General of Parliament (Although his tenure expired in 2005, he continues with his functions temporarily)

-    Director General and Head of the Legal Affairs at the Prime Ministry (2007)

-    Director General of the Economic and Social Council (April 2011)

-    Vice President of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (The Council’s tenure expired in 2009 and the Vice President continues to assume his functions)

 

-    Director General of Antiquities (March 2010)

-    Director General of the National Archives  (April 2010)

-    Vice President of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (January 2011)

-    Director General of Cooperatives at the Ministry of Agriculture (2011)

-    Director General of Real Estate Affairs (2013)

 

-    Head of the Economic and Social Council (since the expiry of the Council’s tenure in 2008)

-    Head of the Beirut Stock Exchange Committee (February 2009)

-    Director General of Roads and Buildings at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport  (November 2010)

-    Director General of Télé Liban (2013)

-    Director General of the Technical Affairs Division at the Presidency of the Republic (May 2014)

 

-    Secretary General of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (The council’s tenure expired at the end of 2009)

-    Director General and Head of the Technical Affairs Division at the Prime Ministry (Vacant for years)

-    General Inspector at the Central Inspection (Early 2012)

 

In addition to the above-mentioned vacant posts, five new posts have been introduced and we are yet to know to which sects they will be assigned. These posts are:

-    Ombudsman

-    Head of Liban Telecom

-    Head of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (This post is likely to be passed down from the Evangelicals to the Maronite)

-    Director General of the Economic Zone of Tripoli

-    Director General of the Committee for the Creation and Management of Industrial Centers.