Who Will Lead the Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Basic Law also states that if there is a vacancy in the office of President of the Authority, “The President of the Palestinian Legislative Council (Parliament) shall assume the duties of the presidency of the National Authority for a period not exceeding 60 days, when hold free and direct elections to elect a new president in accordance with the Palestinian Electoral Law.”

However, the Legislative Council, which Hamas won most of its seats in the last elections in 2006, was dissolved by a decision of the Constitutional Court in late 2018.

Rawhi Fattouh, 75 years old, currently heads the Palestinian National Council, which is the head of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement “Fatah,” which Abbas leads.

The National Council represents the supreme legislative authority for the Palestinian people wherever they are (internally and externally), and it sets the policies of the PLO and plans its programs.

Fattouh is a prominent leader in the Fatah movement.

On November 11, 2004, Fattouh, who was then head of the Legislative Council, took over the leadership of the Palestinian Authority, after the death of President Arafat, for a period of 60 days until elections were held, in which Abbas won in January 2005. .

Fattouh sparked widespread controversy in 2008 after the Israeli authorities seized his car with more than 3,000 mobile phones inside, on his way from Jordan to the West Bank. Fattouh denied his involvement in the case, accused his personal driver of smuggling, and was acquitted a year later by Palestinian judges.

Fattouh was accused of abusing the VIP card given to the leaders of the Authority then on trial and all his membership in the Authority and Fatah was suspended.

Abbas appointed him to several positions, notably personal representative of the President of the National Authority, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Freedom Group, and Head of the Group’s Settlers Department.

Fattouh has been elected President of the Palestinian National Council since 2022.

Fattouh is married and has three children.

Information was not immediately available regarding the reasons for the 89-year-old President Abbas to issue the constitutional declaration at this time, but a source told Reuters earlier this this month that Saudi Arabia had pressed for the appointment of a deputy.

The announcement removes uncertainty about what should happen if Abbas dies, but does not appoint Fattouh as deputy, meaning it is still unclear who might take over. Abbas’ place in the next position.

Fattouh was born on August 23, 1949, in the village of Burqa, formerly in the Gaza Strip, and currently under Israeli rule. He moved with his family to the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.

To study, he later moved to Egypt, then Jordan, and then to Syria, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Damascus and a master’s degree in political science in 2002.

Fattouh joined the “Fatah” movement from the beginning of 1968, when he joined the forces of “Al-Asifa” in Jordan, and received military training at the Military College in Iraq, after which he went it into the foundations of the Palestinian revolution in Jordan and Syria.

Fattouh held several positions in Fatah.

He began his parliamentary career in 1983, when he was a member of the National Council, then a member of the Central Council.

He was also elected as a member of the Legislative Council in 1996, and since the work of the Legislative Council began, he was elected as secretary for eight sessions, and the leader of the Fatah parliamentary bloc.

He was also Minister of Agriculture in the Palestinian government led by Ahmed Qurei in 2003, and the following year he was elected President of the Palestinian Legislative Council.