https://arab.news/yfj42
- Hussein Al-Sheikh could become Palestinian president if certain conditions are met
LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named his deputy, Hussein Al-Sheikh, as his successor to replace him “in the event of a vacancy.”
Abbas, 89, declared on Sunday that in the event of a vacancy in the Palestinian Authority presidency and the absence of the Legislative Council, the vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization will assume the office. The parliament has not been functioning since the Supreme Court dissolved it in 2018.
The new constitutional declaration means that Al-Sheikh, whom Abbas appointed as the first vice president of the PLO in April this year, could become president of Palestine if certain conditions are fulfilled.
Abbas, a veteran figure of the Fatah movement, has been active in the Palestinian national movement since the mid-1960s. He became the second president of the PA in 2005 after the death of Yasser Arafat. He was reelected in 2008, the last time Palestinians held elections, as a national schism between Fatah and Hamas, along with Israeli policy not to allow elections in Jerusalem, prevented elections from being held again.
Al-Sheikh will temporarily assume the duties of president for no more than 90 days, during which time elections will be held to elect a new president, as stated in the declaration.
In the event the elections cannot be conducted on time “due to force majeure,” the Palestinian Central Council may extend the period by only one additional term, the Wafa news agency reported.
“In the supreme national interest in preserving stability, we have issued this constitutional declaration to affirm the principle of the separation of powers and the peaceful transfer of power through free and fair elections,” Abbas’s statement said.