Nationality and Cases of Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa policy in place in the country is an extension of this restrictive approach. Another demographic question which influences today’s nationality policy in the MENA region relates to the desire to maintain a particular – possibly constructed – confessional balance. This is very clearly the case in Lebanon, which has struggled throughout its history to unite a diverse community characterised by no less than 18 official religions. Rather than challenging the country’s demographic divisions and installing a shared identity, Lebanon has developed a complex political system based on the proportional representation of different sects. Certain key positions are reserved for members of specific religious groups: the President must be Christian Maronite, the Prime Minister Sunni Muslim, the Speaker of Parliament Shia Muslim and so on. This was considered the best approach to stave off sectarian conflict. However, it has also served to reinforce the dividing lines between the confessions and to heavily politicise citizenship policy. Under such a system, demography matters and the attribution of citizenship becomes part of a numbers game. The question of whether a particular individual should be recognised as a citizen becomes somehow inseparable from his or her religious affiliation and whether this would distort the confessional balance. Thus, from the very first act establishing the Lebanese citizenry to any contemporary debate 72