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| The Lebanese Parliamentary Monitor has a team of researchers, who are in charge of collecting and monitoring information on the work of Members of Parliament (MPs). The researchers set up almost a complete database on this topic based on academic methodology of collecting, sorting and verifying information. The following paragraphs explain the main elements of the Monitor’s methodology by detailing the main research points, the nature of the monitored information, the classification, and the adopted sources and references. |
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| A- Monitoring Scope |
| The Lebanese Parliamentary Monitor team has decided to limit its research to the work of current MPs, i.e. those elected since May-June 2005. Therefore, the scope of the research does not include the actions and activities of former MPs, even though the Monitor team is aware of the importance of covering the legislative and oversight role of MPs of the second Lebanese Republic, who have been in office since 1992. |
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| It is noteworthy that the research also does not include MPs who at the same time occupy a post in the Executive level, ie MPs who are ministers in the government.. Therefore, the work of the members of the current government, including the resigning ministers, is excluded. |
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| Finally it is important to discuss MPs who have passed away during their term in office. Their names will remain registered in the Monitor's records, with a reference to the date of their decease, but without tackling their functions and activities. The MPs who succeeded the late MPs will then have a file created for them. The monitoring of their activities and positions will take place as soon as they enter Parliament. |
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| B- Nature of Monitored Information |
| Research was narrowed down to the MPs' work, activities, ideas and positions in terms of public affairs and public policies. It did not examine political issues preoccupying all political parties and their representative MPs. Hence, the Monitor user will find information about what the MPs presented in the fields mentioned on the "Public Policies" list on the Monitor's website. |
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| C- Classification of Monitored Information |
| On the website, the information is divided into three main categories. The first category is according to name; the second category is parliamentary activity (6 have been selected for our research); and finally, the third is by Public Policy (around 25 monitored public policies). |
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| Information was classified into 6 categories, based on the MPs' main legislative and oversight tasks. They are as follows:; |
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| - MPs' work in parliamentary committees; i.e. the activities of MPs who are members of one or more parliamentary committee. For MPs who are not committee members can be identified by the phrase "not a member of any committee" next to their name.. In addition, the absence of information in the MPs’ chart, who are not members of any parliamentary committee, does not imply the absence of the activities or information about them in the other five categories. |
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| - MPs' work and positions in plenary sessions; i.e. the positions and statements presented by MPs who decided to express their opinion in one or more parliamentary plenary general assembly sessions, be it regular or extraordinary. |
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| - Law proposals or amendment of laws suggested by MPs; i.e. the law proposals officially submitted by MPs during the monitored period, whether they were approved by Parliament or not. |
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| - Questions and motions addressed by MPs to the Cabinet; i.e. the questions and motions that the MPs submitted to the current government during the official questions and motion sessions at the Parliament. |
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| - Challenges to laws filed by MPs; i.e. the challenges filed by MPs before the Constitutional Council. These challenges are founded on doubts in the constitutionality of a draft law or law-proposal that was passed by the Parliament. |
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| - Positions, statements and other activities found in the media; i.e. presenting the activities or the MPs' positions, as they appeared in the press (see paragraph E). |
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| As previously mentioned, the information in the classified charts as explained above is limited to public policies only, and does not include the MPs' political positions. |
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| D- Sources of Information and References |
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| The sources utilized by the Lebanese Parliamentary Monitor’s research team are grouped into primary and secondary sources, which are detailed below. |
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| In the primary sources, the team worked in full transparency, as it notified all MPs about the Monitor's project by sending to them official letters. The letters included the request to provide the Monitor with detailed reports on their relevant public policy legislative and oversight actions. The Monitor user may download the report of every MP who responded to the monitor's request from the MP's web page on the Monitor's website. |
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| In the primary sources as well, the team proceeded with arranging interviews with MPs to explain to them the project's aim and to obtain information on their work and standpoints in public policies. Moreover, a unique sample of questions has been adopted in all the interviews with MPs to ensure that the team's work would be more professional. The questions raised during interviews with MPs are as follows: |
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| - Question 1: What are the most prominent activities in the public policies domain which the MP considered as his priority? |
| - Question 2: What are the most outstanding projects, regarding public policies that the MP plans to proceed with if Lebanon was in a closer situation towards stability? |
| - Question 3: What is the position of the MP towards public policies chosen by the Civilian Community as a priority for his/her work? |
| - - Judiciary |
 - Public liberties and human rights |
| - Electoral law |
| - Social affairs, women rights and disabled rights |
| - Security |
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| The user may get the report on the interview with every MP, who responded to the monitor in this regard, on the MP's web page |
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| As for the secondary sources- i.e. the indirect ones, they include the minutes of the Parliament's plenary sessions and the "Parliamentary Life" Magazine, which is issued by the Parliament and UNDP. The magazine includes the MPs' official activities as recorded by the Parliament's administration. These sources include the press as well. Diversification of sources was a priority for the team so as to ensure the objectivity of information collected. Comprehensive data collection was done from the following newspapers: An Nahar, al-Mustaqbal, al-Akhbar and Sada al-Balad. The Monitor user will find information in the form of charts with a reference to the name of the source (newspaper or magazine) and its date. |
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| With respect to the committees’ work, in spite of the confidentiality of the minutes of parliamentary committees, most newspapers report on the main activities of each committee. Therefore, the press data on parliamentary committees was monitored, and entered into the Monitor's charts according to the membership of every MP, provided that his/her name is registered among those present in the report of every session held by the committee. Here as well, the Monitor user will find information relevant to this field in the form of charts with a reference to the name of the source (newspaper or magazine) and its date. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that the Monitor's researchers encountered the problem of reports issued by some committees that do not always mention the names of the MPs' present in the meeting. For this reason, the research team could not enter the decisions of those sessions in the charts of some MPs. |
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| Last but not least, we would like to say that research efforts lasted 8 months of continuous activity (from November 2006 to July 2007), knowing that the process of monitoring reports and conducting interviews with MPs is still ongoing. The database will be regularly updated on the website in order to provide the latest information on the work of the current Lebanese MPs. |
