The National Pact
by morethantheheadlines
The National Pact is the unwritten agreement between Maronite President Bechara El-Khoury and the Sunni Prime Minister Riad Al-Solh. Agreed to in 1943, it laid the foundation for the modern confessional Lebanese state.
Essentially the pact stated that:
– Lebanon is an independent state.
– Arab in character but not to seek alliance with the West or the Arabs.
– The President must be a Maronite Catholic.
– The Prime minister a Sunni Muslim
This established a delicate balance in the highly pluralistic Lebanese society.
This pact retains much of its form in modern-day Lebanon.
However the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) altered some of the Pact.