Lebanese Begin To Use New Right To Have Religion Removed From ID's

In Februrary, Lebanon's Interior Minister issued a circular permitting any citizen to have his or her religious affiliation removed from Civil Registry Records. (See prior posting.) According to today's Daily Star, the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth urged people to use last Saturday as a day to request removal of affiliation from their ID's, and over 200 did so. It is expected that next, someone whose identity was removed will challenge the country's sectarian electoral law by attempting to run for Parliament. The Electoral Law restricts parliamentary candidates in various districts to members of a particular religious sect.