The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Palestinian vote on leadership
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The top-tier leadership group of the PLO — average age 70 — is up for election for the fifirst time in more than two decades when hundreds of delegates attend a West Bank convention this week. It should be a chance to revitalize the
What is the PLO?
The PLO was founded in the mid1960s as an umbrella for Palestinian factions. From the start, it was dominated by the Fatah movement, now headed by Abbas. After promoting armed struggle for decades, the PLO exchanged letters of recognition with Israel in 1993. This led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority, a self-rule government that at fifirst ran Gaza and enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. On paper, the PLO remained the “sole legitimate representative” of all Palestinians, recognized by more than 100 countries. Yet power quickly shifted to the Palestinian Authority. Today, the PLO is widely seen as an empty shell but remains relevant as a political umbrella that could be revived. Even Hamas wants to join, but Abbas has balked, fearing another takeover.
Who votes for what?
Starting with an Abbas speech Monday, the Palestin-PLO parliament, or ian National Council, holds four days of meetings in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Later in the week, delegates elect a new PLO Executive Committee, the top decision-making body, with 18 members. Such an election was last held at a PNC plenary session in 1996 in Gaza. In 2009, a smaller PNC gathering replaced six members who had died or fallen ill. Current members are in their 60s to 90s. Fatah gets three seats. Small factions get one each for a total of seven, and independents get eight.
More of the same?
About two-thirds of Executive Com- mittee members are likely to be replaced, said Mohammed Ishtayyeh, an Abbas adviser. Fatah already picked its members — Abbas, of course, and stalwarts Saeb Erekat and Azzam al-Ahmed, according to Palestinian offifficials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the vote has not yet taken place. Erekat, a former negotiator with Israel, suffered a major health crisis last year, undergoing a lung transplant. Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister of the auton- omy government, is among the Abbas loyalists expected to be selected in the independent category, the offifficials said.
Does it matter?
There’s widespread apathy in the West Bank the about Fatah-run event in which aging leaders, nearly all of them men, make decisions behind closed doors. It’s largely perceived as irrelevant to the lives of Palestinians. Candi- dates haven’t bothered to campaign, and there are no posters in the streets announcing the event. “You cannot claim that there is a renewal process,” said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a longtime No. 2 in the PLO who was sidelined in 2015 after criticizing Abbas and is packing up his office on the floor the top of PLO building in Ramallah in the coming days. Abbas, who has had an approval rating of about one-third in recent polls, gets to shore up his legitimacy with a new Executive Committee. He needs a two-thirds majority for major decisions.
What about Hamas?
The PNC is meeting at a time when Hamas is raising its leadership profile with mass protests on the Gaza-Israel border. By comparison, Abbas’ longstanding strategy — statehood through U.S.-led talks with Israel — is seen as a failure. Abbas himself seems to be edging away from it. Abbas has about Gaza, said little despite a mounting casualty toll of 39 Palestinians killed and more than 1,600 wounded by Israeli fifire during the past month. Instead, he’s increasing financial pressure on Gaza in hopes of getting Hamas to accept his demand to return all authority to him.
Will Abbas choose a successor?
The battle over who will eventually replace Abbas is likely to be fought in Fatah, not in the PLO Executive Committee. There is no clear path of succession, and Abbas has refused to plan ahead, even though he has suffered recent health scares that prompted him to keep a cardiologist at his side. The role of any Palestinian leader in a post-Abbas era is bound to shrink if peace efforts remain deadlocked. Instead of negotiating the terms of Palestinian statehood, a successor could be busy improving schools or garbage pickup in the West Bank.