Lebanon has numerous political parties, but they play a much less significant role in Lebanese politics than they do in most parliamentary democracies. Many of the "parties" are simply lists of candidates endorsed by a prominent national or local figure. Loose coalitions, usually organized locally,

are formed for electoral purposes by negotiation among clan leaders and candidates representing various religious communities; such coalitions usually exist only for the election, and rarely form a cohesive bloc in the National Assembly after the election. No single party has ever won more than 12.5 percent of the seats in the National Assembly, and no coalition of parties has won more than 35 percent. Especially outside of the major cities, elections tend to focus more on local than national issues, and it is not unusual for a party to join an electoral ticket in one constituency while aligned with a rival party - even an ideologically opposite party - in another constituency. Although almost every party is strongly dominated by a particular faith community, it should be noted that most nonetheless maintain that they are secular. The Rafik Hariri Martyr List includes both Muslim and Christian members of parliament, but in different parties.

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