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Modern Lebanon is a unitary multiparty republic with a parliamentary system of government. Its constitution, promulgated in 1926 during the French mandate and modified by several subsequent amendments, provides for a unicameral Chamber of Deputies (renamed the National Assembly in 1979) elected for a term of four years by universal adult suffrage (women attained the right to vote and eligibility to run for office in 1953). According to the 1989 Ṭāʾif Accord, parliamentary seats are apportioned equally between Christian and Muslim groups, thereby replacing an earlier ratio that had favoured Christians. This sectarian distribution is also to be observed in ...(100 of 17994 words)