Becoming prime minister should be the pinnacle of any politician’s career; for Salim al-Hoss, who has died aged 94, holding that post in Lebanon proved to be something of a curse. Yet he willingly did so four times. Regarded as exceptional for his integrity and probity, he drily observed: “The main constant in Lebanese politics is that there are no constants.”
Hoss, a Sunni Muslim and a former economist, first took office in December 1976, 18 months into a civil war that would last for another 14 years. President Elias Sarkis allowed his non-partisan cabinet of technocrats to rule by decree. Yet Syrian troops and militant Lebanese and Palestinian factions continued fighting in various lethal combinations. An invasion by Israel in March 1978 added to the mayhem. Despite Hoss’s best efforts, Beirut’s government and army split along sectarian lines, and he resigned in July 1980.
