1972 Lebanese general election

1972 Lebanese general election

← 1968 16–30 April 1972 1992 →

All 100 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon
Turnout54.38% (Increase4.81pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Camille Chamoun Pierre Gemayel Kamal Jumblatt
Party National Liberal Party Kataeb PSP
Leader's seat Chouf Beirut I Chouf
Last election 8 9 5
Seats won 11 7 5
Seat change Increase 3 Decrease 2 0

  Fourth party
 
Leader Melkon Eblighatian
Party ARF
Leader's seat Beirut I
Last election 4
Seats before 4
Seats won 5
Seat change Increase 1

General elections were held in Lebanon between 16 and 30 April 1972.[1] Independent candidates won a majority of seats, although most of them were considered members of various blocs. Voter turnout was 54.4%.[2]

Background

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According to the 1960 constitution, the 99 seats were divided amongst ethnic and religious groups:[3]

Group Seats
Maronite Christians 30
Sunni Muslims 20
Shi'ite Muslims 19
Greek Orthodox 11
Druze 6
Greek Catholics 6
Armenian Orthodox 4
Protestants 1
Armenian Catholics 1
Other 1

Results

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The majority of MPs – 63 of the 100 – were elected as independents. However, 52 of them were considered to be members of parliamentary blocs, including 9 in the Faranjiyyah bloc, 9 in the Skaff bloc, 7 in the Assad bloc (which also included the 2 Democratic Socialist Party MPs), 7 in the Karami bloc, 6 in the Hamada bloc, 4 in the Armenian Revolutionary Federation block (which also included the party's single MP), 4 in the Arslan bloc, 3 in the Jumblatt bloc (which also included the five Progressive Socialist Party MPs) and 3 in the Salam bloc.[4]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
National Liberal Party11+3
Kataeb Party7–2
Progressive Socialist Party50
National Bloc4–2
Party of the Constitutional Union30
Lebanese Social Democratic Party2New
Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party1New
Democratic Party1New
National Action Movement10
Armenian Revolutionary Federation1–3
Union of Working People's Forces1New
Social Democrat Hunchakian Party0New
Armenian Democratic Liberal Party0New
Syrian Social Nationalist Party0New
Lebanese Communist Party0New
Independents63+1
Total100+1
Total votes721,022
Registered voters/turnout1,326,01654.38
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p183 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  2. ^ Nohlen et al., p184
  3. ^ Lebanon Inter-Parliamentary Union
  4. ^ Nohlen et al., pp189–190 ISBN 0-19-924958-X