A diplomat from the Quintet, the five-state committee engaged in helping Lebanon overcome its prolonged presidential election crisis, was quoted as saying by visitors that the solution to the Lebanese crisis begins with adherence to the Taif Agreement and the application of the Constitution and jurisprudence, while avoiding misinterpretation and manipulation of the texts.
The diplomat asserts that the Taif Agreement, which put an end to the 1975-1990 civil war, is not the Bible or the Quran and that it can be amended to fix the loopholes that have emerged in its application. Nonetheless, the diplomat stressed, it is necessary to preserve the spirit of Taif and the equation on which it was founded, namely strict equal sharing of powers between Christians and Muslims.
Some 35 years after it was inked and (partially) implemented, the Taif Agreement carried several gaps that need to be addressed, such as setting a time limit for designate prime ministers to form their government: the mandate must not be of unlimited duration. With a new president and government, work would be done to fill the existing gaps, but for the time being, the Taif Accord must be implemented as it was promulgated in 1989.
