The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas – who remains in power without ever having submitted to an election by universal suffrage since the expiration of his mandate at the head of the Palestinian Authority in December 2009, took Wednesday a decree establishing the terms of the interim to open on the day his position becomes “vacant”, and which de facto removes Hamas from business during this transitional period.
In the current state of Palestinian legislation, it is the president of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC, Parliament) who takes the reins of the Palestinian Authority in the event of a vacancy in power. But the CLP, where Hamas had the majority, no longer exists since Mahmoud Abbas officially dissolved it in 2018.
Mahmoud Abbas’ term expired in 2009.
AFP
This published decree states that “if the position of president of the National Authority [palestinienne] becomes vacant in the absence of the Legislative Council, the president of the Palestinian National Council [CNP] temporarily assumes the charge. The PNC being the Parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), where more than 700 members from the Palestinian Territories and abroad sit.
Hamas, which does not belong to the PLO, is not represented there.
It also provides for the holding of a presidential election within a maximum period of 90 days.
