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Administrative reforms in the Palestinian Authority since the start of the Gaza war are reaching new levels: for the first time, the Palestinian Central Council is set to convene to elect a vice president for both the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority in two weeks, Ynet learned on Tuesday.
The meeting, scheduled for April 23 in Ramallah and expected to last two days, marks one of the most significant reforms since the PA’s founding. According to Palestinian officials, the move follows Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s announcement at last month’s Arab emergency summit in Cairo. Roughly 180 council members have been invited.
Sources within the PA revealed the main contenders for the role: Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the PLO Executive Committee; Jibril Rajoub, former head of the Preventive Security Force and Rauhi Fattouh, who was recently designated to temporarily replace Abbas in case of his absence or death.
A Palestinian source told Sky News Arabia that during a recent phone call, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Abbas to appoint a deputy, reorganize the Fatah movement and reconcile with key figures previously expelled, including Mohammed Dahlan and Yasser Arafat’s nephew, Nasser al-Qudwa.
The source added that Macron promised France is seriously considering recognizing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders in the coming months.
A PA official confirmed the report to Ynet, calling the decision unprecedented and a “positive step” for the future of Palestinian leadership, which he said aims to govern both the West Bank and Gaza with international backing.
Another Palestinian source close to the PA’s decision-making circle told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat that the PA is holding decisive talks with the U.S., European nations, Arab states, Hamas and Israel — both directly and indirectly — about governance in post-war Gaza.
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According to the source, the PA is pushing a political initiative to establish a Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
He said influential Arab states are involved and that the U.S. is central to the talks. The source expressed hope that a Gaza ceasefire would prompt Washington to pursue a political path acceptable to Arab publics, eventually leading to the resolution of the conflict through the creation of a Palestinian state.
He claimed the PA is ready for statehood and has enacted sweeping reforms toward that goal. Even Hamas, he said, is willing to relinquish control of Gaza — and its weapons — if a Palestinian state is established.
To date, the PA has never formally held elections for a vice president and the position isn’t defined in the current Palestinian Basic Law. However, recent years have seen increasing debate about the need to identify or appoint a successor, especially given Abbas’s advanced age —born in 1935 — and the fact that no presidential elections have been held since 2005.
In a column, Palestinian journalist and PLO member Nasser Laham wrote, “There’s no doubt the PLO is stagnant and losing influence among youth. It’s an old ship that sometimes appears worn out but it’s still sailing in the right direction. History has shown that faster ships, backed by more money, military power and appeal, often sailed harder — but in the wrong direction.”
He added, “The Palestinian Central Council might elect a vice president, a co-president, or ten presidents. That doesn’t worry PLO members. They’ve lived through every historical phase and know well that the ship that left Beirut with Arafat in 1982 eventually reached Jerusalem.”