Taif Agreement
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The Taif Agreement (
Overview
The treaty was fathered by the Speaker of the Parliament
The agreement covered political reform, the ending of the
The agreement formed the principle of "mutual coexistence" (العيش المشترك) between Lebanon's different sects and their "proper political representation" (التمثيل السياسي الصحيح) as the main objective of post-civil war parliamentary electoral laws.
The agreement also provided for the disarmament of all national and non national militias. Hezbollah was allowed to stay armed in its capacity as a "resistance force" rather than a militia, fighting Israel in the south, a privilege obtained – according to the Swedish academic Magnus Ranstorp – in part by using its leverage as holder of a number of Western hostages.[9]
Although the Taif Agreement identified the abolition of political sectarianism as a national priority, it provided no timeframe for doing so. The Chamber of Deputies was increased in size to 128 members, shared equally between Christians and Muslims, rather than elected by universal suffrage that would have provided a Muslim majority (excluding the expatriate community, a majority of which is Christian). A cabinet was established similarly divided equally between Christians and Muslims.
According to
The agreement was ratified on 5 November 1989. The Parliament met on the same day at the Qoleiat air base in North Lebanon and elected President René Moawad,[2] 409 days after Amine Gemayel vacated this position upon the expiration of his term in 1988. Moawad was unable to occupy the Presidential Palace which was still in use by General Michel Aoun. Moawad was assassinated seventeen days later in a car bombing in Beirut on 22 November 1989 as his motorcade returned from Lebanese Independence Day ceremonies.[11] He was succeeded by Elias Hrawi, who remained in office until 1998.
Political reform
The agreement contained multiple constitutional amendments, which came into force following President Hrawi's signature in September 1990. Among the most major changes:
- The ratio of Christians to Muslims in Parliament was reduced from 6:5 to 1:1.
- The term duration of the Speaker of the House was increased from one year to four years. (Article 44 of the constitution[12])
- Article 17 of the constitution[12] was amended from "the executive power is vested in the President of the Republic, who exercises with the assistance of his ministers" to "the executive power is vested in the Council of Ministers, who exercise it according to the dispositions of this constitution".
- Presidential prerogatives were somewhat curtailed. Among the powers lost were:
- Require parliamentary consultations before nominating the Prime Minister.
- Cannot dismiss or appoint individual ministers at will (requires approval of the Council).
- Introduce laws in Parliament. Instead, he introduces them to the Cabinet, who then vote to transmit it to Parliament.
- Nominate or dismiss state employees, which became the Council's duty. In reality, this had little impact in political life as civil servants were generally nominated by ministers and then voted on in cabinet, before being appointed by the President.
- "The Chamber of Deputies [...] shall take the appropriate measures to bring about the abolition of political confessionalism according to a transitional plan." (Article 95 of the constitution[12])
Disarmament of militias
Hrawi’s government set 30 April 1991 as the final date imposing the surrender of all territory, heavy artillery, and disbandment of militias.
Jbeil-Keserwan
The LF had already agreed to hand over the Keserwan and Jbeil districts in April 1990 to the LAF under General Elie Hayek (Mount Lebanon commander), with the condition that its 10,000 men strong force remain intact.
Metn-Baabda
In 1989/90 the
East/West Beirut
Following the end of the Elimination War on 13 October 1990, LAF soldiers began dismantling militia positions on the Green Line. Soon after, barrages and checkpoints blocking access between the cantons were dismantled, allowing traffic to move freely between the East and West for the first time since 1976. In addition, the LAF moved into Martyrs’ Square, which had been the site of some of the most intense fighting in the entire Civil War. On 3 December 1990 Samir Geagea’s LF officially withdrew from East Beirut with a 2,000 man parade featuring hundreds of vehicles, including tanks and artillery.[15] They also stripped Beirut port of all its equipment including cranes and tugboats.[14]
A few years later, the company Solidere would be mandated by the government to rebuild the completely destroyed downtown.
Aley-Chouf
The LAF had not been present in the Chouf and most parts of Aley since 1975 when fighting first broke out; in addition, the area was devoid of Christians following an ethnic cleansing committed by Jumblatt’s PLA during the 1983 Mountain War. On 30 April 1991, the final date of militia disbandment, the Lebanese Army under the command of Hayek entered the Aley and Chouf districts, taking position at former PLA checkpoints and seizing all artillery material. The Chouf Mountains were the last areas of Mount Lebanon that the LAF moved into. Slowly after, Christians began returning to their homeland in these territories, but it was not until the Mountain Reconciliation in 2001 that the mass return of Christians was finalized.
North (LF-held)
Up until the 30 April 1991, all LF apparatus and positions were integrated into the national army. The army entered the districts of Bcharre (LF/Maronite heartland) to take command of any remaining positions, although there was no animosity or historic entrance as two presidents during the war (Bachir and Amine Gemayel) had been Phalangists, therefore army/LF cooperation had been an everyday affair.
North (Syrian-held)
Most Syrian troops withdrew from Akkar and Tripoli in the two years following Hrawi's signature of the Accord to Tartous governorate in Syria or the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon (as there was no time limit on their presence in the Beqaa).[discuss]
South
From 7 February 1991, the Lebanese army began deploying in villages next to the Israeli ‘security zone’. On 15 February Fatah fighters crushed a revolt by a group of their own members who refused to leave their positions in one of the villages. 10 people were killed in the fighting.[16]
On 4 July 1991, following the failure of disarmament negotiations, as required by the Taif agreement, the Lebanese Army attacked Palestinian positions in Southern Lebanon. The offensive, involving 10,000 troops against an estimated 5,000 militia, lasted 3 days and ended with the Army taking all the Palestinian positions around Sidon. In the agreement that followed all heavy weapons were surrendered and infantry weapons only allowed in the two refugee camps, Ain al-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh. 73 people were killed in the fighting, and 200 wounded, mostly Palestinian.[17][18]
As the South was occupied by Israel and the South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia, the army was not deployed there until the year 2000, when Israel and the SLA retreated South of the Blue Line. As a result of the occupation in 1989, the Taif Agreement enabled "resistance" groups to remain armed in the South until Israeli withdrawal (principally Hezbollah).
The LAF entered the South in 2000 for the first time since 1976 – 34 years after it retreated following the Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon. Despite the IDF withdrawal in 2000, Hezbollah did not disarm - with approval from President Lahoud and Syria - in violation of the Taif Accord.
Beqaa Valley
The agreement stipulated the withdrawal of all Syrian troops to the Beqaa valley by 2 years at most, but did not provide a time frame for their full withdrawal of the country. This loophole enabled the Syrian Arab Army to occupy the Beqaa for the next 15 years and dominate political life for the same period, until its complete retreat in March 2005 following the Cedar Revolution and UN Resolution 1559.
See also
- Doha Agreement of 2008
- History of Lebanon
- UN Security Council Resolution 1559
- 2017 Lebanon–Saudi Arabia dispute
- Confessionalism
- National Pact
References
- ^ Krayem, Hassan. "The Lebanese civil war and the Taif agreement". American University of Beirut. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61530-329-8. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ . Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- .
- ^ AbuKhalil, Asad (29 May 2001). "Lebanon One Year After the Israeli Withdrawal". Middle East Research and Information Project. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
- ^ S2CID 154975167.
- ^ a b Salamey, Imad (Autumn–Winter 2009). "Failing Consociationalism in Lebanon and Integrative Options" (PDF). International Journal of Peace Studies. 14 (2): 83–105. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
- ^ Somasundram, Premarani (2 August 2006). "Lebanon: Return to the dark ages" (PDF). IDSS Commentaries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press, 1997, p. 105
- consortiumnews.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
- ^ Murphy, Kim (25 November 1989). "Lebanon Picks New President; Aoun Defiant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ a b c "The Lebanese Constitution" (PDF).
- ^ Middle East International No 386, 26 October 1990, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP, G.H. Jansen pp.8,9
- ^ a b Middle East International No 390, 21 December 1990; Jim Muir p.12
- ^ Middle East International No 389, 7 December 1990; Jim Muir pp.10,11
- ^ Middle East International No 396, 22 March 1991; ‘twenty-eight days in brief’ p.18
- ^ Middle East International No 404, 12 July 1991; Jim Muir, p.3; Godfrey Jansen, Lamis Andoni pp.4-5
- ^ Journal of Palestine Studies 81 Volume XXI, Number 1, Autumn 1991, University of California Press. pp.193,194 Chronology quoting Los Angeles Times 7/6, Mideast Mirror (MEM), London 7/5