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Lebanon
Women in decision-making positions
4%
Members of local deliberative bodies are women (597 elected women)
No woman is Head of State or Government
6%
Parliamentarians are women
5%
Ministers are women

Government organization

Spheres of government

Lebanon is a unitary republic with two spheres of government: central and local.

One tier of central government and one tier of local government composed of municipalities.

  • Head of State: The President of the Republic is elected by the Chamber of Deputies.
  • Head of Government: The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic
  • Legislative body: The Chamber of Deputies is a unicameral legislature whose members are directly elected by voters.
  • Executive body: The Council of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister, is composed of members proposed by the Prime Minister and countersigned by the President of the Republic to be presented for a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies.

  • Organization: Local government is organized into one tier of 1,029 municipalities and the Municipality of Beirut.
  • Competencies: Local government is responsible for determining rates of municipal taxes, promulgating municipal rules and statutes, and managing the public works within its jurisdiction.
  • Ministerial oversight: Ministry of Interior and Municipalities

Overview of local government

Local government composition

Deliberative body: The municipal council is composed of 9-21 elected members; the municipal council of Beirut and the municipal council of Tripoli are composed of 24 elected members each. A council president is elected by and from the municipal council to preside over it; the council president is also vested with executive powers in all municipalities, except in the Municipality of Beirut.

Executive body: The council president (in the municipalities) or the Governor of Beirut (in the Municipality of Beirut) is the executive at the municipal level of government. The Governor of Beirut is appointed by decree of the Council of Ministers.

Local government elections

Electoral system for municipal councils: majority/plurality (block vote)

  • The municipality shall form one single constituency. The candidates who obtain the highest vote count are considered the winners. In the event of equality of votes, the older is the winner.

Electoral system for council president or governor: no direct elections/appointment

  • The council president is elected by and from the municipality council. The governor of Beirut is appointed by the Council of Ministers.

Source: Law on Amendments to some texts in the Law on Election of Members of the House of Representatives, the Municipalities Law and the Mukhtars Law, 1997 (amended through 2017), articles 21, 26 and 45

  • Gender quotas: No
  • Additional quotas: No

  • Term length: 6 years
  • Last local elections: 2016
  • Next local elections: 2022

Ministry of Interior and Municipalities; municipal electoral commissions

National legal framework on local government

  • Constitution of Lebanon, 1926 (amended through 2004);
  • Electoral Law, 2017 (amended through 2021);
  • Municipal Act, 1977 (amended through 2021);
  • Law on Amendments to some texts in the Law on Election of Members of the House of Representatives, the Municipalities Law and the Mukhtars Law, 1997 (amended through 2017);
  • Decree on Administrative Organization, 1959 (amended through 2019).

There are no constitutional provisions that establish local government in Lebanon.

The Chamber of Deputies is responsible for establishing the national legal framework of local government. The key piece of legislation that regulates local government is the Municipal Act of 1977 (amended through 2021). According to Article 1 of the Municipal Act, “the municipality is a local administration exercising, within the scope of its work, the powers entrusted thereto by the law. The municipality shall hereby enjoy legal personality as well as financial and administrative independence.”

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2025.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 1 December 2025.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2025.

4. UN Women: Data on share of women Cabinet ministers as of 1 January 2025.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2023.