Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been re-elected as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Executive Committee, as the veteran leader sought to renew his legitimacy while installing loyalists who he hopes will eventually continue his legacy.
The expected reappointment came at the end of a four-day meeting by the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Friday. The PNC chose a new Executive Committee, the most senior body of the PLO.
“Members of the PLO Executive Committee consulted among themselves and decided to elect brother Abu Mazen (Abbas) as the chairman of the Executive Committee,” said Azzam Al-Ahmad, a staunch ally of Abbas who was among nine new people elected to the 15-member committee.
The PNC was convened by Abbas in part to forge a strategy in response to US President Donald Trump’s decisions to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and to move the US embassy to the city.
The first PNC meeting in 22 years was overshadowed by criticism of Abbas’s opening speech on Monday, which drew accusations of anti-Semitism.
The new Executive Committee was not elected but were chosen by consultation with the PLO factions who took part.
Abbas, 82, is thought to have achieved most of his goals at the meeting, including the removal from the committee of some of his rivals, including Yasser Abed Rabbo and former Palestinian Authority prime minister and negotiator Ahmed Qurei.
Read the article in the Herald Sun and also available at news.com.au (Reuters).