Career
He succeeded Musa al-Sadr as leader of the Amal Movement, but resigned from his position in 1980 as he was opposed to Amal becoming increasingly more involved in the civil war. From 1972 to 1974, he headed the parliamentary commission of public works and hydroelectric resources. In 1978, he became Amal"s Secretary General.
He resigned from this post on 17 June 1980, as he refused to drench Amal in blood and fight alongside the PLO or any other faction.
His resignation was followed by Amal"s entry in the Lebanese Civil War. In 1989, while in office, el-Husseini orchestrated and presided over the Taif Agreement, held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which led to the end of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
He is considered to be the father of the agreement. Husseini is also credited with revoking both the Cairo Agreement and the May 17 Agreement.
In 1992, Nabih Berri was backed by the Syrians during their military presence in Lebanon to replace Husseini as Speaker, as Husseini had refused, despite enormous pressure, to pass a law that would allow Rafik Hariri (and later Solidere) to expropriate land and property in the Beirut Central District and compensate owners with shares in the company worth as little as 15% of the property"s value.
On 12 August 2008, in a speech during the vote of confidence for the new government, Husseini announced his resignation from parliament, expressing his fury at how the constitution was being torn. He remains a strong advocate of democracy, civil society and transparency in his community. Husseini"s Civil Center for National Initiative succeeded in persuading the Ministry of Interior to allow Lebanese citizens to remove mentions of their sectarian affiliation from civil records.