Lebanon's Members of Parliament are hard to replace.
According to Information International, of the 128 MPs elected in 2000:
• 37 were MPs for the first time
• 30 for the second time
• 54 for the third time
• 6 for the fourth time or more
• 1 (Abdellatif Al-Zein) since 1964
The same goes for members of the Government.
Also according to Information International:
"196 ministers have served in the last seven governments, but if those who have served more than once are discounted, the actual number of different ministers is 107."
"• 62 ministers occupied a ministerial post once, out of which 12 had headed a ministry before 1992.
• 15 ministers occupied the post twice, out of which 5 had headed a ministry before 1992.
• 22 ministers occupied the post three times, out of which 2 had headed a ministry before 1992.
• 4 ministers occupied the post four times, out of which 3 had headed a ministry before 1992.
• 3 ministers occupied the post five times, out of which 1 had headed a ministry before 1992.
• 1 minister, who also headed a ministry before 1992, occupied the post six times under the last seven governments.
• Minister Fouad Sinioura occupied the same post for almost 10 years."
The question remains: given the great developments on the Lebanese scene, will the next Government and Parliament change accordingly?
