Mahmoud Abbas was one of the founders of Fatah in 1965 and became the PA’s first prime minister in 2003. (Credit: AFP)
RAMALLAH — The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) voted on Thursday to establish the position of vice president, potentially paving the way for a successor to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, AFP reports. At 89 years old, Abbas is the second oldest government leader in the world.
"A vote was held to create the position of vice president," Rizq Namoura, a member of the PLO's central council, said in an interview with Palestine TV, adding the vote was "almost unanimous" in favor of establishing the post, a first for the organization.
Palestinian analyst Aref Jaffal said the new role was created in preparation for the need to find Abbas' successor. "This position was created precisely to arrange for Abbas's successor, as there are many things the Palestinian situation requires," Jaffal, the director of the Al-Marsad Election Monitoring Center, told AFP. "The Palestinian political system is already miserable, so I believe that all these arrangements are a prelude to creating a successor to Abbas."
Abbas has been PLO chairman since 2004, Palestinian Authority president since January, 2005, and State of Palestine president since May 2005. Initially meant only to serve as president for four year, Abbas used the PLO constitution to extend his term until the planned 2010 election. On Dec. 16, 2009, however, Abbas was voted into office indefinitely by the PLO Central Council, and is currently in his 20th year in office.
According to a Haaretz report, the decision will apply to both Abbas' positions as president and as chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, and the deputy will be appointed from among the members of said committee, per the committee chairman's recommendation and the approval of its members.
Abbas will also have authority to assign tasks to his deputy, dismiss him from his position or accept his resignation.
Sources within the council told Haaretz that candidates for the position of deputy have yet to be officially named, but that the main contender is the secretary-general of the Executive Committee, Hussein al-Sheikh.
