BEIRUT: Lebanon’s current confessional system is not sustainable and a transformed political system should be considered, Heiner Bielefeldt, the United Nations’ freedom of religion specialist, said Thursday.
He said that the current quota system – in which positions in state institutions are reserved for people of certain confessions – may be a source of anxiety.
“I’m not saying giving up the infrastructure of religious diversity. It needs to be built in to the system, [but] maybe in a different way – maybe less focusing on quotas,” Bielefeldt told The Daily Star.
“It would mean transforming the current system of political confessionalism, quite in accordance with the Taif Agreement and also with the Constitution. I think it’s not sustainable in the long run.”
He stressed that Lebanon should consider moving away from quotas and instead enshrine principles of freedom of religion into law to ensure that each of Lebanon’s wide variety of sects is protected.
Bielefeldt’s comments came during a news conference in which he presented the preliminary findings of his country visit to Lebanon at the Radisson Hotel. A more detailed and in-depth report will follow, he said.
As the U.N.’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, he came to Lebanon on invitation from the government.
During his speech at the news conference, he said that the advantages of the confessional system are that it maintains a certain stability and predictability that fosters trust. However, it can lead to many problems, especially for people that follow unrecognized religions.
“We met people from non-registered, non-recognized religions who are still registered as Orthodox,” Bielefeldt said during his address. “It can lead to a situation where some people – people not really fitting into the system – are somehow caught between self-betrayal and self-marginalization.”
Under Lebanon’s current political system, a specific number of seats and different government posts are reserved for each sect. According to an unwritten agreement reached between the country’s main political factions when Lebanon won its independence in 1943, the president can only be a Maronite, the speaker a Shiite and the prime minister a Sunni. Besides these three main sects, Lebanon has 15 other recognized religious groups. Some minority sects are barely represented in senior posts of public institutions.
The report of preliminary findings also included a section dedicated to encouraging the recognition of civil marriage, amid its ongoing debate.
“I personally think that the availability of a civil marriage option for everyone in Lebanon would not necessarily weaken the legacy of religious diversity,” Bielefeldt wrote in the report. “At the end of the day, religion is a matter of conviction, which can best flourish in an atmosphere of freedom.”
Bielefeldt also mentioned that he “sensed much openness” from religious leaders for reform on the issue of civil marriage.
When pressed on this point by a journalist at the news conference he explained that, “Some people express [their desire for change] very clearly. They wish [for] it. I’ve met no one who really could give clear arguments for keeping the current system unchanged.”
“Among religious dignitaries, some high-ranking clerics, [I heard] a clear awareness that changes are not only inevitable but they may actually be beneficial also from the perspective of their various religions,” Bielefeldt continued.
Bielefeldt explained that the governing of all marriage-related issues in religious courts had presented problems for clerical leaders. For instance, some Catholics have been known to convert to Islam in order to perform divorce procedures as it is prohibited in many Catholic courts.
According to the report, in exceptional cases some Sunnis have converted to Shiite Islam in order to benefit from inheritance laws.
Currently in Lebanon the issue of civil marriage is still under intense debate. There is no law banning or permitting civil marriage in Lebanon, but it is difficult to have it recognized by the state.
Aside from its issues, Bielefeldt expressed that there was much evidence of coexistence that the region may learn from.
“This living together: you cannot preach it – you have to see it. The most important messages are the messages that life tells,” he said. “Lebanon, I would say, is pretty unique in the Middle East, and that’s important and I was happy to be able to see that.”
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