NDI: Report on Lebanon’s 2009 Election

The National Democratic Institute recently released its “Final Report on the Lebanese Parliamentary Election” [PDF], which finds that although the 2009 contest was “fundamentally peaceful and well-administered,” a combination of political deals and a unique electoral system “meant that the outcome was predetermined in all but a few of the most contested regions.” To improve Lebanon’s electoral processes and strengthen its vulnerable democratic institutions, NDI offers a set of sixteen general recommendations and expresses its hope that regional actors “give space so that continued electoral reform and democratic development can move forward and Lebanon can freely determine its own future within the framework of autonomous democratic institutions.”

If interested, an Arabic version of the report is available as well.