Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has denied the report that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, 80, resigned Saturday as chairman of the PLO executive committee.
Erekat also denied the report that more than half of the 18-member executive committee has also resigned.
The move allegedly was taking place in an attempt to force new elections, according to PLO official Wassel Abu Yussef, who spoke with the AFP news agency.
The denial came about an hour after news of the resignation by Abbas was flashed by news agencies around the world.
Erekat was quoted by The Jerusalem Post Arab affairs reporter Khaled Abu Toameh as saying such resignations are submitted to the PLO’s parliament-in-exile, the Palestinian National Council, and not the executive committee.
According to the report by Toameh, the executive committee did, however, vote Saturday night to approve Erekat’s appointment as PLO Secretary-General. Also at that meeting, the committee decided to begin preparations to convene the Palestinian National Council “as part of Abbas’s efforts to bring new faces to the leadership.”
Al Arabiya reported that The Palestinian National Council has called for a new election to be held within 30 days to choose the next leader of the PLO executive committee.
For months, there have been rumors that Abbas has suffered health problems. Political infighting has added to the stress, along with the April 2014 breakdown in talks between the PA and Israel.
Abbas has been chairman of the PLO since former chairman Yasser Arafat died. He has served head of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, although he was only elected to the position for a four-year term. He also remains as head of the PA’s Ramallah-based ruling Fatah faction.
PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat was actually named as PLO executive committee secretary-general last month, just after Abbas had suspended Yasser Abed Rabbo from the position. The move leaves Erekat as effective head of the PLO for the time being. It is not clear why Abbas preferred Erekat over Rabbo for the role.
The executive committee is the highest decision-making body of the PLO and acts on behalf of Palestinian Arabs on all matters, including actions in the United Nations and negotiations on peace with Israel. It was in the position of PLO secretary-general that Abbas signed the Oslo Accords in 1993.