Our handsomely-paid politicians

byHabib Battah
Nov 21, 2013

According to this powerful graphic from Visualizing Palestine, Lebanon’s politicians make almost 15 times the average income in Lebanon.

I’m not sure if this includes fringe benefits and I’ve also heard that local politicians can collect various salaries for various positions they may hold, such as serving as both minister and member of parliament. I will have to check that last part out.

It would also be interesting to compare the number of days worked as every time I pass by parliament it seems to be closed.

Habib Battah

Habib Battah is an investigative journalist and founder of the news site beirutreport.com. Battah has covered Lebanon and the Middle East for over 20 years and teaches journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. He is a contributor to Monocle, The Guardian, BBC World, Al Jazeera and others, a former fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and two-time recipient of the Samir Kassir Press Freedom Award. Battah's investigative work was recently recognized for outstanding local reporting by the Columbia University Oakes Award for Environmental Reporting. Battah earned a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Near East Studies and Journalism from New York University.