|
2022-02-04 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
|
|
PLO to fill key posts as Abbas succession struggle heats up
|
[IsraelTimes] Executive committee position left vacant by former chief negotiator Erekat will likely be taken by Hussein al-Sheikh, seen as possible successor to long-ruling PA president, 86.
The Paleostine Liberation Organization is scheduled to convene in Ramallah on Sunday in a meeting some see as providing a boost to a possible successor to long-ruling Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
 ...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
"There is a dead end in the political process with Israel, a difficult position vis-à-vis the Arab world — the Paleostinian leadership will meet to decide its approach in light of these circumstances," said senior Paleostinian official Tawfiq al-Tirawi, who is set to attend Sunday’s gathering.
Continued from Page 2
For the first time since 2018, the PLO’s Central Council will meet to fill key leadership roles in the pan-Paleostinian organization. But most of the Paleostinian political spectrum will not attend, and some prominent factions have announced their intention to boycott the gathering.
The most important position up for grabs is a seat on the PLO Executive Committee — the group’s highest decision-making body — formerly held by the late PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat
...negotiated the Oslo Accords with Israel. He has been chief Paleostinian negotiator since 1995. He is currently negotiating with Israel to establish a de jure Paleostinian state...
. Alternately admired and reviled by his Israeli counterparts, Erekat died of COVID in late 2020.
Erekat’s spot is set to be filled by Hussein al-Sheikh, once of Abbas’s closest advisers. A longtime member of the ruling Fatah party, al-Sheikh is viewed as one of several contenders to succeed the 86-year-old Abbas.
Al-Sheikh leads the PA office that handles ties with Israel, making him one of the most powerful Paleostinian officials in the West Bank. He frequently meets with Israeli officials and foreign diplomats, and met one-on-one with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid last week.
Al-Sheikh is widely seen as likely to assume Erekat’s role as chief PLO negotiator as well. Formally taking over Erekat’s high-profile position would likely boost his chances in the fractious succession contest.
According to al-Tirawi, al-Sheikh will likely be elevated to the prized position of chief negotiator when the Executive Committee next meets to distribute portfolios among its members.
"Al-Sheikh was nominated to the [Executive Committee] so that he could receive the negotiations portfolio," emphasized al-Tirawi, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee.
Several other posts remain up for grabs at Sunday’s meeting. Hanan Ashrawi, a former PLO spokesperson and Executive Committee member, retired in 2020, leaving an empty seat. No clear contender for her spot has yet appeared.
The PLO was the standard-bearer of the Paleostinian struggle for statehood for decades. But the organization has been sidelined since the establishment in the mid-1990s of the Paleostinian Authority, which administers major Paleostinian cities and towns in the West Bank.
Abbas, 86, who also serves as PLO chairman, presides over a widely unpopular regime that critics have deemed increasingly autocratic. Abbas has rock-bottom approval ratings; although his term ended in 2009, he has continued to rule by executive fiat.
While the aging Abbas has battled ill health, he has not appointed a clear successor. Numerous contenders are seen as vying for the job, including al-Sheikh, exiled security chief Mohammad Dahlan, and Marwan Barghouti, a convicted terrorist serving multiple life sentences in Israeli prison.
"Some people act as though the succession can be determined in back-room deals made by a few individuals, whether in Fatah or in the PLO. This is crazy talk. At the end of the day, the only path to legitimacy is elections," said Nasser al-Kidwa, a former senior Paleostinian official who has become an Abbas critic.
But Paleostinian national elections have not been held for over 15 years. The Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, terror group won the 2006 Paleostinian legislative elections. After a year and a half of tense power-sharing, the government collapsed into bloody civil strife between Hamas and Fatah in 2007.
Numerous pledges by Abbas and other Paleostinian leaders to hold another round of votes have yet to be fulfilled. Abbas signed a decree last January to hold elections, only to again indefinitely delay them in late April, fearing a loss to his rivals within Fatah and Hamas.
Most of Abbas’s opponents will not attend Sunday’s meeting, including both the Hamas and Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
terror groups. Two prominent factions within the PLO, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine terror group and the National Initiative, will also boycott the gathering.
The decision to convene the committee also sparked criticism from Abbas’s own Fatah movement. A veteran Fatah official said the gathering’s agenda — which appeared to focus mainly on appointments — showed a gap between the leadership and the concerns of most Paleostinians.
"The Paleostinian people don’t care whether the Executive Committee has 15 members or 11 or whatever. There are other problems that need solutions: Jerusalem, settlements, prisoners, confronting the occupation," said the official, who asked for anonymity in order to speak candidly.
"If this meeting isn’t going to give us even a tiny fraction of unity, it’s a step in the wrong direction," the official added. 
|
Posted by trailing wife 2022-02-04 01:37||
||
Front Page|| [11130 views ]
Top
File under: PLO
|
|
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey
07:10 NN2N1
07:09 Besoeker
07:03 NN2N1
06:58 NN2N1
06:58 Besoeker
05:28 Whiskey Mike
05:23 Whiskey Mike
05:21 Whiskey Mike
05:18 Whiskey Mike
05:15 Whiskey Mike
05:13 Whiskey Mike
05:08 Whiskey Mike
|
