Who is Rawhi Fattouh, who will take over the leadership of the Palestinian Authority if the post becomes vacant? – BBC News Arabic

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.

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.

An official in the Fatah movement told the BBC that President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision came after talks he had with countries and diplomats who advised him to determine a path for a smooth transfer of power to prevent a situation of political instability in the West Bank.

The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that President Abbas’ decision came to resolve internal discussions and disputes and that he rejected the idea of ​​a legacy or succession to the presidency and path directly to him, that is general elections. .

He pointed out that the President of Palestine considered the idea of ​​appointing a deputy in the event of his disappearance with King Abdullah II of Jordan, the President of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al- Sisi, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He pointed out that this move came as a result of an American-Saudi intervention aimed at changing the face of the authority, which, according to them, could control the Gaza Strip after the end of the war.

The Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies, “Masarat,” Hani Al-Masry, in a conversation with Alaa Daraghmeh, a journalist at the BBC office in Ramallah, believes that the head’s response sit on American and Saudi pressure by appointing him. the deputy was delusional.

Al-Masry says that the pressure that Saudi Arabia and the American administration put on the Palestinian President was to ensure that there would be continued power after his departure, but he did not offer them a solution with this news.

He pointed out that the Palestinian President found a way to fill the political void without him, but it is not true, because he believes that it is difficult to hold elections due to the current situation in Palestine.

Hani Al-Masry believed that the choice of the Palestinian President on the National Council, headed by Rawhi Fattouh, means that he personally does not want names close to him, such as the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the PLO, Hussein Al -Sheikh, or Secretary of the Central Committee of the Fatah Movement, Jibril Rajoub.

It is believed that officials and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization will want to hold a conference of the main Council of the organization in the coming period to change the president of the National Council and make changes to the members of the Executive Committee.

Al-Masry believes that the next phase will be difficult for President Abbas because he did not find a solution, but instead opened the doors of conflict early to choose his successor. But the choice raises a question about the loyalty of the vice president to be from the National Council, which represents the PLO and not all Palestinians.

The Director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, Ammar Dweik, commented on the Constitutional Declaration that the Commission will examine the Constitutional Declaration at the level of the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Directors, and if they find human rights violations, they do. take a position

From his point of view, Al-Dweik believed that the decision came out of fear of falling into a constitutional loophole if the position of the president becomes vacant, especially since there is no legislative council .

He said that “the announcement came as a solution to a problem, but the question remains: Did this solution come by consensus and after investigation?” “

But political expert Hani Al-Masry believes that Abbas violated the Palestinian constitution, and that his decision was a one-man decision without referring to legal references, organization and authority.