1972 Lebanese general election
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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]
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16–30 April 1972
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All 100 seats in the Parliament of Lebanon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 54.38% ( 4.81pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
According to the 1960 electoral law, 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
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]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Liberal Party | 11 | +3 | |||
| Kataeb Party | 7 | –2 | |||
| Progressive Socialist Party | 5 | 0 | |||
| National Bloc | 4 | –2 | |||
| Party of the Constitutional Union | 3 | 0 | |||
| Lebanese Social Democratic Party | 2 | New | |||
| Socialist Arab Lebanon Vanguard Party | 1 | New | |||
| Democratic Party | 1 | New | |||
| National Action Movement | 1 | 0 | |||
| Armenian Revolutionary Federation | 5 | +1 | |||
| Union of Working People's Forces | 1 | New | |||
| Social Democrat Hunchakian Party | 0 | New | |||
| Armenian Democratic Liberal Party | 0 | New | |||
| Syrian Social Nationalist Party | 0 | New | |||
| Lebanese Communist Party | 0 | New | |||
| Independents | 63 | +1 | |||
| Total | 104 | +1 | |||
| Total votes | 721,022 | – | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,326,016 | 54.38 | |||
| Source: Nohlen et al. | |||||
