# So Now What? (No Government for Lebanon?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318 "2005-02-28T17:50:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LemonFoil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LemonFoil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LemonFoil)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/1 "2005-02-28T17:50:34Z")
The Lebanese government announced its resignation an hour ago. What does this mean, and what implications will it have for the nation (and the rest of the world)? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/2 "2005-02-28T18:47:07Z")
Might be a dumb question, but what about the Lebanon citizens residing out of their country. Are they still citizens? And are they allowed back in? (_The Terminal_ type situation?) 😕 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/3 "2005-02-28T19:06:30Z")
Keep in mind that they mean the “government” resigned in a Parliamentary sense - in other words, the PM has stepped down, probably to avoid a vote of no confidence. It doesn’t mean that the “government” in the sense of bureaucratic machinery has ceased to function. From the third paragraph of the CNN article: > [@](#): > > The country’s pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, now must pick a prime minister to form a new government until scheduled elections in May. Uses of the terms “form a government” or “government has collapsed” sound more dire to those of us used to the US Federal system than they really are. It’s a major shakeup, but the system is intact. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/4 "2005-03-01T01:31:57Z")
It means there will be an election. Technically, _every_ parliamentary government has, as its final act, writs dissolving parliament and calling an election. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/5 "2005-03-01T03:59:59Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > It means there will be an election. Technically, _every_ parliamentary government has, as its final act, writs dissolving parliament and calling an election. Although often the case (particularly in Britain and other two-party parliamentary systems), the resignation of a government does not necessarily mean there will be an election. If a new coalition among the current parliamentary factions can agree to form a governing majority, the President or Crown may ask them to do so. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/6 "2005-03-01T09:00:11Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Although often the case (particularly in Britain and other two-party parliamentary systems), the resignation of a government does not necessarily mean there will be an election. If a new coalition among the current parliamentary factions can agree to form a governing majority, the President or Crown may ask them to do so. And in the case of parliamentary systems with elections at fixed intervals, the President/Crown _must_ find a coalition or minority party to do so. Norway is one such system; we have elections every four years, never more often. During the last election cycle the coalition government took a gamble, lost, and had to resign; the King had to look at the sitting Parliament, and we ended up with a minority government until the next election. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/7 "2005-03-01T14:14:33Z")
True enough, but an election has already been called for Lebanon this May. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-what-no-government-for-lebanon/292318/8 "2005-03-01T19:01:37Z")
Henry David Thoreau : “That government is best which governs least.”