Al-Huss served as prime minister of Lebanon four times. The first time was from 1976 until 1980 during the first years of the
Lebanese Civil War. His second, and most controversial term, was from 1987 until 1989, when in 1988 he unconstitutionally nominated himself as prime minister but was recognized by many nations and statesmen of the international community. Al-Huss was chosen a third time to serve as prime minister by President
Elias Hrawi from November 1989 until December 1990. He served as prime minister again from December 1998 to October 2000. During his political career, he served as Lebanon's
foreign minister,
industry minister,
education minister,
labor minister,
information minister, and
economy minister. He was a member of the anti-imperialist conference
Axis for Peace. Al-Huss was a strong opponent of
capital punishment, and during his term as prime minister he refused to sign any execution warrants, temporarily halting executions in Lebanon, which have remained rare.
First premiership Al-Huss was appointed prime minister by President Elias Sarkis in December 1976. His government was formed amidst the ongoing civil war, which began in 1975 and involved various factions, including Palestinian groups, Christian militias, and Syrian forces. Despite his efforts to restore peace, al-Huss faced significant challenges, including renewed fighting between militias and the Syrian army, as well as the Israeli invasion in 1978. The internal political situation deteriorated, leading to his resignation on 20 July 1980, as he was unable to manage the ongoing violence and instability effectively. He was succeeded by
Takieddin as-Solh.
Rival governments From January to September 1988, he boycotted meetings of his own cabinet, in protest against the policies of
President Amine Gemayel. On 22 September, he refused to accept his dismissal in favour of General
Michel Aoun, a
Maronite Christian. The crisis was precipitated by the failure of the
National Assembly to elect a new president (in Lebanon, the president by convention is a Maronite Christian, while the Prime Minister by convention is a
Sunni Muslim). Since the Lebanese constitution states that in the event of a presidential vacancy, the outgoing president appoint a temporary prime minister to act as president, outgoing president Gemayel decided to appoint Maronite army commander Michel Aoun to that office, notwithstanding the tradition of reserving the post for a Sunni Muslim. al-Huss refused to concede the prime minister's post to Aoun, so the two ended up heading rival administrations; with Aoun occupying the presidential palace in
East Beirut, al-Huss established his own office in
West Beirut. Lebanon was thus left with no president and two rival governments: one constitutional and the other recognized by many states. However, although Syria, at the time occupying much of Lebanon, supported al-Huss, and although al-Huss's cabinet was already operational, most of the international community dealt with administrations on both sides of the
Green Line and recognized both as Lebanon's prime ministers even though, constitutionally speaking, Aoun was the lawfully appointed prime minister and acting president of Lebanon. Violent conflict between the two prime ministers soon arose over Aoun's refusal to accept the presence of
Syrian troops in Lebanon. In competition with Aoun, al-Huss remained acting president from 1988 until 5 November 1989, when
René Moawad took office. When Moawad was assassinated seventeen days later, al-Huss reprised his role as acting president for two days, at which point
Elias Hrawi was elected to succeed Moawad.
Final premiership in the Arab Summit, 1978 Al-Huss was appointed prime minister after General
Émile Lahoud was elected president. His government was notable for excluding many of the traditional feudal leaders and warlords who had dominated Lebanese politics. This shift aimed to create a more technocratic and reform-oriented administration. After losing his parliamentary seat to a previously unknown candidate running with former prime minister
Rafik Hariri in
the general elections of 2000, al-Huss resigned as prime minister, declaring the end of his political career. ==Retirement and death==