To begin the process of abolishing political sectarianism, efforts must be carried out according to a specific plan that is to be implemented within a specified transitional period. This plan aims to establish and strengthen the various components of the civil state, which protects the rights of all segments of the Lebanese population and its various components without discrimination or preference, as a starting point to establish a secular state.

The first step is to approve an optional civil personal status law that enables the introduction of civil courts as an option in settling disputes, instead of restricting citizens to spiritual and denominational courts. It also requires the amendment of Article 95 of the Constitution and appointing the first category administrative positions, in accordance with the principles of competence and experience, away from all forms of sectarian quota allocation which is currently adopted. It is necessary to hold parliamentary elections based on an electoral law that adopts the proportional system, excludes the sectarian restrictions, and adopts the governorate as an electoral district, provided that these elections coincide with the establishment of the Senate as stipulated in the Taif agreement, and granting it limited powers within a specified transitional period.

Transitioning To A Secular State

• Adoption of a new parliamentary electoral law that adopts the proportional voting system, outside of any sectarian constraint and without an electoral threshold, provided that it includes the following reforms:
  • Adopting the governorate as an electoral district
  • Setting the voting age at 18 years
  • Allowing voting in the place of residence by accrediting Mega Centers
  • Granting the military and security apparatus the right to vote
• In addition to:
  • Ensuring effective representation of expatriates in Lebanese political life by facilitating the expatriate voting process
  • Imposing a 50% female quota
  • Establishing an electoral management body that is completely autonomous and independent from the executive authority and has the widest powers to administer the parliamentary elections
  • Tightening control over electoral spending and withdrawing the candidacy of those who exceed the permissible spending limit
  • Reducing the candidacy fee to 2,000,000 Lebanese pounds and refunding the fee in case of withdrawal
  • Ensuring equality between candidates in terms of media appearances
  • Imposing mandatory debates between candidates
• Adoption of a new municipal electoral law that adopts the proportional system and includes the following reforms:
  • Setting the voting age at 18 years
  • Allowing voting in the place of residence by accrediting Mega Centers
  • Granting the military and security apparatus
  • Imposing a 50% female quota
  • Tightening control over electoral spending and withdrawing the candidacy of those who exceed the permissible spending limit
  • Ensuring equality between candidates in terms of media appearances
• Imposing a 50% female quota so that elected mukhtars are women in districts that allow this
• Adoption of an optional civil law for personal status and civil marriage and grant civil tribunals the jurisdiction to settle civil status disputes instead of religious courts
• Adoption of legislation that grants Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese the right to grant their nationality to their husbands and children
• Set the minimum age of marriage at 18years
• Amending Article 95 of the Constitution that entails appointing the first category administrative positions in accordance with the principles of competence and experience, and not according to the sectarian quota system currently adopted
• Establishing of the Senate provided for in the Taif constitution and granting the Senate limited powers within a specific determined transitional period
• Liberating Trade Unions and Labour Associations from the control of traditional political parties, by modernizing and developing its internal Bylaws to enhance transparency and accountability or dissolving said entities and re-establishing new Associations, Unions and Federations that adopt modern and transparent Bylaws

Civil Rights and Freedoms

• Abolishing the Ministry of Information, and cancelling the General Security preventive censorship over cinematic and artistic works, as well as reviewing the mission and prerogatives of the National Media Council in a manner to include Electronic Media
• Activating the National Commission for Human Rights in Lebanon, after modifying its underlying legislation to ensure greater independence for its members
• Working on a new and modern Media Law with the participation of Human Rights and Media Associations, that includes the following principles:
  • Respecting the absolute essence of Freedom
  • Ensuring freedom of publication without prior censorship
  • Adopting a transparent and flexible mechanism for granting licenses to establish media organizations
  • Exempting electronic sites from any fees
  • Abolishing the criminalization of publicly addressing the presidency or persons who do not hold an official position
  • Abolishing the criminalization of publishing classified material in the event that its disclosure is in the public interest
  • Ensuring that the new legislation is free of any vague and interpretable terms that may be used to suppress Freedom of Expression
  • Abolishing penal sanctions, especially prison sentences
  • Rewarding those who defend the public interest
• Appointing a committee of specialists in the field of technology, governance and informatics to draft a legislation dedicated to the digital rights of individuals
• Expanding the prerogatives of the Defense and Interior Committees in Parliament to strengthen the mechanism for monitoring the performance of military and security agencies
• Amending the penal code to reinforce the penalties imposed on members and officers of the security and military agencies that limit and/or suppress civilians' exercise of their Public Freedoms
• Prevent legal prosecution for exercising the right to protest
• Forming a mixed parliamentary and judicial investigation committee to document the assaults and violations committed by security agencies, military forces and civilians that affected demonstrators and activists, with the aim of pursuing them criminally and imposing the most severe penalties against them
• Abolishing the death penalty
• Subjecting the Republican Guard, the Governmental Guard, and Parliament Police to the accountability of the judiciary
• Amending the Penal and Criminal Procedures Codes in terms of:
  • Replacing prison sentences for some crimes with other measures such as conditional freedom, social services, or other similar measures
  • Requiring public prosecutors to conduct investigations
  • Limiting preventative detention to major crimes exclusively
  • Amending the law criminalizing sexual harassment, particularly in terms of penalizing moral harassment and protecting employees in the workplace
  • Repealing legal articles that criminalize homosexuality
• Preventing all security services from summoning citizens without a court order
• Reforming the state of prisons through:
  • Rehabilitating existing prisons
  • Establishing new prisons
  • Improving the conditions of prisoners by activating social, vocational and educational rehabilitation programs
• Forming a majority woman led parliamentary committee to eliminate discrimination against women in all legislations, especially in penal, labor, personal status and nationality laws
• Granting refugees their social and economic rights and safeguarding their right to a decent life, with an emphasis on the right of return for Palestinian refugees and the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees
• Abolishing prison sentences for defamation cases
• Abolishing the Kafala sponsorship system and granting domestic workers all rights stipulated in the Labor Law