40 Parliamentary by-elections in Lebanon since 1929
40 Parliamentary by-elections in Lebanon since 1929
Three parliamentary seats left vacant after the resignation of Tripoli Orthodox MP Robert Fadel on October 18, 2016, the election of former Kessrouan Maronite MP Michel Aoun as President of the Republic on October 31, 2016, and the death of Tripoli Alawite MP Badr Wannous on January 5, 2017. The government is requested by the Constitution to hold parliamentary by-elections to fill the vacancies, yet conducting them depends on conditions related to Parliament’s term.
Article 41 of the Lebanese Constitution stipulates: “Should a seat in the Parliament becomes vacant, the election of a successor shall begin within two months. The mandate of the new member shall not exceed that of the old member whose place he is taking; however, should the seat in the Parliament becomes vacant during the last six months of its mandate, no successor may be elected”. The current Parliament’s term will expire on May 21, 2018, which means that the “six months” condition to hold the by-elections is met.
By-elections in history
Since the adoption of the Lebanese Constitution in 1926, Lebanon has witnessed 40 by-elections: 29 were held after MPs passed away, six following assassinations, three after MPs were elected Presidents, one after a MP resigned and another after a MP was dismissed from Parliament. The majority of these elections were “family bequests” as the seat was transferred from a MP to his son, brother or nephew. Five MPs replaced their brothers, four replaced their relatives and nine replaced their fathers, apart from Beirut 2005 by-elections when Ghassan Tueni (the father) replaced his assassinated son Gebran, which means that around half the MPs (19) who won in by-elections are related to the former MPs who used to occupy the seat. Some by-elections witnessed fierce competition that led to serious divisions (for example the Chouf by-elections that were held following the assassination of MP Naim Moghabghab and witnessed a stiff competition between the candidates of Kamal Jumblatt and Camille Chamoun, ending with the victory of Jumblatt’s candidate).
Two months have passed and the vacant seats are still unfilled. The government has not yet set a date for the elections, thereby violating the Constitution as it has previously done (the latest violation took place upon the death of MP Michel Helou in Jezzine).
The following table lists the MPs who won in parliamentary by-elections.
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MPs who won in parliamentary by-elections since 1929 |
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Parliament |
MP whose seat became vacant/ district |
Sect |
Cause |
Candidates |
Winning MP and his relation with the former MP |
|
12-7-1929 09-5-1932 |
Toufic Erslan/Mount Lebanon |
Druze |
Passed away in September 1931 |
Majid Erslan- Talhouq Taqieddine- Amin Taqieddine |
Majid Erslan (son) |
|
Fadel al-Fadel/South Lebanon |
Shia’a |
Passed away in January 1935 |
Bahij al-Fadel-Abdel Latif al-Asa’ad-Mohammad Kamel She’aib |
Bahij al-Fadel (son) |
|
|
30-1-1934 24-7-1937 |
Chebel Issa el-Khoury/ North Lebanon |
Maronite |
Passed away in February 1934 |
Najib Daher- Wadih Tarabey- Najib Issa el-Khoury-Jamil al-Helou-Emile Khoury-Hanna Daher |
Najib Daher |
|
Emile Edde/Mount Lebanon |
Maronite |
Dismissed from Parliament in March 1944 |
Farid el-Khazen- Toufic Awwad – Khalil Abou Jaoude-Salah Labaki-Roukoz Abou Nader- Iskandar Baz |
Khalil Abou Jaoude |
|
|
Salim Taqla/Mount Lebanon |
Catholic |
Passed away in January 1945 |
Philippe Taqla-Elias Rababi |
Philippe Taqla (brother) |
|
|
21-9-1943 8-4-1947 |
Bechara el-Khoury/Mount Lebanon |
Maronite |
Elected president in 1943 |
Farid el-Khazen- Toufic Awwad- Khalil Abou Jaoude-Salah Labaki- Roukoz Abou Nader-Iskandar Baz |
Farid el-Khazen |
|
Wahib Taraya Geagea/ North Lebanon |
Maronite |
Assassinated in February 1944 |
Hassib Geagea-Youssef Karam |
Youssef Karam |
|
|
Salim el-Khoury/ Mount Lebanon |
Maronite |
Resigned in 1947 |
Uncontested |
Emile Lahoud |
|
|
19475-6- 19514-6- |
Farid el-Khazen/Mount Lebanon |
Maronite |
Passed away in August 1947 |
Uncontested |
Salim el-Khazen |
|
Ibrahim Azar/South Lebanon |
Maronite |
Passed away in 1950 |
Uncontested |
|
|
|
19515-6- 30-5-1953 |
Kamil Chamoun/Chouf-Aley |
Maronite |
Elected president in 1952 |
Philippe Safa- George Akl-Elie Mkarzel-Aref al-Gharib |
Elie Mkarzel |
|
George Zwein/Kessrouan |
Maronite |
Passed away in 1953 |
Uncontested |
Louis Ziadeh |
|
|
Riad el-Solh/Saida |
Sunni |
Assassinated in March 1951 |
Salah Bizri-Mohammad Hariri-Kazem el-Solh |
Salah Bizri |
|
|
13-7-1953 11-7-1957 |
Emile Lahoud/Matn |
Maronite |
Passed away in March 1954 |
Salim Lahoud-Khalil Abou Jaoude- Habib Akl-Chahine Chahine |
Salim Lahoud (nephew) |
|
12-7-1957 4-5-1960 |
Naim Moghabghab/Chouf-Aley |
Catholic |
Assassinated in July 1959 |
Salem Abdel-Nour-Ena’am Raad |
Salem Abdel-Nour |
|
Farid Cozma/South Lebanon |
Maronite |
Passed away in May 1959 |
Maroun Kena’an-Basil Abboud |
Basil Abboud |
|
|
Youssef Zein/Nabatieh |
Shia’a |
Passed away in May 1962 |
Sons: Abdel Latif Zein-Izzat Zein |
Abdel Latif Zein (son) |
|
|
18-7-1960 19-2-1964 |
Emile Boustani/Chouf |
Maronite |
Passed away in March 1963 |
Uncontested |
Mirna Boustani (daughter) |
|
Qabalan Qabalan/Chouf
|
Sunni |
Passed away in March 1936 |
Anwar el-Khatib-Ahmad Berjaoui |
Anwar el-Khatib |
|
|
Mostafa el-Rifai/Baalbeck-Hermel |
Sunni |
Passed away in August 1963 |
Abdallah Sukarieh- Mohammad Sami el-Rifai-Mahmoud el-Hakim- Shawqi al-Breidi-Mohammad Sukarieh |
Abdallah Sukarieh |
|
|
Ahmad al-Asa’ad/Bint Jbeil |
Shia’a |
Passed away in March 1936 |
Uncontested |
Kamel al-Asa’ad (son) |
|
|
Youssef el-Hrawi/Zahle |
Maronite |
Passed away in April 1965 |
George Akl-Said Akl-Marcel Nammour- Gabriel Chamoun-Fouad el-Hrawi-Joseph el-Hrawi |
Joseph el-Hrawi (brother) |
|
|
4-5-1964 3-5-1968 |
Antoine Said/Jbeil |
Maronite |
Passed away in May 1965 |
Raymond Edde/Nohad Said |
Raymond Edde |
|
Chahid el-Khoury/Jbeil |
Maronite |
Passed away in June 1966 |
Najib el-Khoury- Chucri el-Khoury-Emile Sakr-Antoine al-Shami-Sami Germanos-Edward Noun |
Najib el-Khoury (brother) |
|
|
Maurice Gemayel/Matn |
Maronite |
Passed away in October 1970 |
Amin Gemayel-Fouad Lahoud-Antoine el-Achkar-Nabil Ghosn-Joseph Khoury-Edmond Toubia |
Amin Gemayel (nephew) |
|
|
4-5-1968 3-5-1972 |
|
Sunni |
Passed away in November 1970 |
- Zaher el-Khatib-Hassan al-Qa’aqour |
Zaher el-Khatib (son) |
|
Suleiman Franjieh/Zgharta |
Maronite |
Elected president in 1970 |
Uncontested |
Antoine Franjieh (son) |
|
|
4-5-1972 15-10-1992 |
Fahmi Chahine/Nabatieh |
Shia’a |
Passed away in October 1974 |
Kamel Ahmad-Adel al-Sabbah-Moussa She’aib-Rafik Chahine |
Rafik Chahine (cousin) |
|
16-10-1992 15-9-1996 |
Abdallah el-Rassi/North Lebanon |
Orthodox |
Passed away in February 1994 |
Karim el-Rassi-Ghassan el-Achkar-Khalil Jreij-Riad Rahhal-Raouf el-Rassi |
Karim el-Rassi (son) |
|
Joseph Moghaizel/Beirut |
Catholic |
Passed away in May 1995 |
Nasri al-Ma’alouf-Mouawad Seja’an-Youssef al-A’araj-Daoud Issa- Bechara Samaha- Joseph Abboud-Meneem Azar- Tony Yared- Gilbert Chammas-George Skaff |
Nasri al-Ma’alouf |
|
|
October 2000 20-6-2005 |
Albert Moukheiber/Matn |
Orthodox |
Passed away in April 2002 |
Mirna el-Murr-Gabriel el-Murr-Ghassan Moukheiber |
Ghassan Moukheiber (nephew) |
|
Pierre Helou/Baabda-Aley |
Maronite |
2003Passed way in July |
Henry Helou-Hikmat Dib |
Henry Helou (son) |
|
|
Mostafa Saad/South first district |
Sunni |
Passed away in July 2000 |
Uncontested |
Oussama Saad (brother) |
|
|
May 2005 June 2009 |
Edmond Naim/Baabda-Aley |
Maronite |
Passed away in January 2006 |
Uncontested |
Pierre Daccash |
|
Gebran Tueni/Beirut first district |
Orthodox |
Assassinated in December 2006 |
Uncontested |
Ghassan Tueni (father) |
|
|
|
Pierre Gemayel/Matn |
Maronite |
Assassinated in November 2006 |
Amin Gemayel-Kamil Khoury |
Kamil Khoury |
|
Walid Eido/Beirut second district |
Sunni |
Assassinated in June 2007 |
Mohammad al-Amin Itani- Ibrahim al-Halabi |
Mohammad al-Amin Itani |
|
|
June 2009 August 2017 |
Hashem Alameddine/ Minnieh-Dennieh |
Sunni |
Passed away in April 2010 |
Kazem el-Kheir-Kamal el-Kheir |
Kazem el-Kheir |
|
Farid Habib/Koura |
Greek Orthodox |
Passed away in May 2012 |
Fadi Karam-Walid al-Azar |
Fadi Karam |
|
|
Michel Helou/Jezzine |
Maronite |
Passed away in June 2014 |
Amal Abou Zeid-Salah Gebran-Ibrahim Azar-Patrick Rizkallah |
Amal Abou Zeid |
|
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Source: “Electoral Encyclopedia from our Parliamentary Life” - Secrets and Positions-Volume 10, 1951-1953-Fares Sa’adeh-Beirut 1996 and Parliament 1920-2000 published by Information International |
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Note: MP Antoine Ghanem was assassinated on September 19th, 2007. Yet, no parliamentary by-elections were held to choose his successor.
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