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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
President Shihab, having cultivated nonpartisanship during the
1958 Civil War, enjoyed considerable support from the various
political factions. However, his initial appointment to the cabinet
of a large number of Muslim leaders, such as Rashid Karami, Sunni
leader from Tripoli, whom he asked to form a reconciliation
government, led to sharp reactions by the Phalange Party. Shihab
was obliged to reapportion the balance in the cabinet on the basis
of "no victors, no vanquished." He instituted electoral reform and
increased the membership of the Chamber of Deputies from sixty-six
to ninety-nine, thus enabling leaders of the various factions in
the civil war to become active members of the legislature. He was
determined to observe the terms of the National Pact and to have
the government serve Christian and Muslim groups equally. This
policy, combined with Shihab's concept of an enlightened president
as one who strengthened the role of the executive and the
bureaucracy at the expense of the zuama (sing.,
zaim--see Glossary),
or traditional leaders, was later referred to as
"Shihabism." Shihab also concentrated on improving Lebanon's
infrastructure, developing an extensive road system, and providing
running water and electricity to remote villages. Hospitals and
dispensaries were built in many rural areas, although there was
difficulty in staffing them.
In foreign affairs, one of Shihab's first acts was to ask the
United States to withdraw its troops from Lebanon starting on
September 27, 1958, with the withdrawal to be completed by the end
of October. He pursued a neutral foreign policy with the object of
maintaining good relations with Arab countries as well as the West.
Many observers agree that his regime brought stability and economic
development to Lebanon and that it demonstrated the need for
compromise if the Lebanese confessional system of government were
to work. At the same time, however, it showed that in times of
crisis the only solution might be to call on an outside power to
restore equilibrium.
Data as of December 1987
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