Who was the late "godfather" of Taif Hussein Al-Husseini

Former Speaker of Parliament Hussein Al-Husseini was well-known as the "godfather" of the Taif agreement.

However, "Sayyed" was the most beloved title to al-Husseini's heart concerning the prophetic dynasty he belonged to.

 

Al-Husseini was a statesman who graduated from the Imam Musa al-Sadr school of thought as a companion and then as his successor in the leadership of the Amal Movement.

صورة نادرة تجمع الامام موسى الصدر والنائبين حسين الحسيني وعبد اللطيف الزين في السيّارة - نيسان 1977 pic.twitter.com/zFPzIrv2lP

— أرشيف لبنان Lebanon Archives (@booklebanon) August 24, 2019

During the Lebanese civil war, he was known as a man of dialogue and openness, and amid the days of "political alienation," he did not cut ties with anyone.  

With his unifying personality, he built bridges across barriers and contradictions with those who, for him, represented the idea of the state: from President Camille Chamoun to President Suleiman Franjieh and PMs Saeb Salam, Rashid Karami, Selim Hoss, and others.  

Raymond Edde was his role model in his approach to the crisis in Lebanon. His parliamentary career began in 1972 and culminated in 1989 with the establishment of the Taif Agreement, which stopped the war.  

Al-Husseini's primary role was removing the barriers preceding Taif, paving the way through his meetings with the Patriarch of Bkerki to the Pope of the Vatican and tens of other internal and external meetings. 

 

The former Speaker of Parliament was known for his excessive sensitivity against the militias and their leaders. He has consistently criticized the coalition of what he called the "leaders of arms and money." 

As a quiet man, he did not raise his voice except in the face of those who turned against Taif and those who took advantage of it to benefit their sects and businesses.  

He insisted that there are not three presidents in Lebanon, but one president, the president of the republic who is the head of the state and the protector of institutions. Al-Husseini remained a man of moderation, even during the country's division between the March 8 Alliance and the March 14 Alliance.

 

The peak of his rejection of de facto settlements at the expense of the constitution was his resounding resignation in August 2008, refusing to tear up the constitution following the Doha agreement, following the election of President Michel Suleiman without amending the constitutional article and adopting the sectarian electoral law (قانون الستين). 

Hussein Al-Husseini fought to establish an independent judiciary and considered the cause of Lebanon's collapse as the absence of authority and accountability.  

He used to laugh when asked about Taif's dialogue transcriptions, saying that the worth of Taid lies in its final version, which has become a constitution and a national pact. As for publishing the transcriptions that preceded reaching the agreement, he said that would be an insult to the deal itself and a return to the discourse of civil war.  

Al-Husseini wrote his memoir with his daughter, Randa, his companion, who keeps a copy of it. 

Optimistic about the October 17 revolution, Al-Husseini must have passed away saddened by a political class that tore up the constitution and plundered the country and from a society that succumbed to all its vices.