The PLO Central Council met in Ramallah on Saturday and decided that in the event that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, 82, can no longer carry out his duties, he would be replaced by his deputy, Mahmoud al-‘Aalul, 67, who was appointed in mid-February, PA media reported.
The former governor of the Palestinian Authority’s Shechem county, al-‘Aloul was elected to the Fatah Central Committee in August 2009. Al-‘Aloul is a believer in armed struggle against the State of Israel, telling Watan TV in 2012 that that “no one has dropped the armed resistance from his dictionary.”
According to the PLO Council’s decision, in the event of Chairman Abbas’s absence, al-‘Aalul will be appointed to the post of “President of Palestine for a period of three months until elections are held.”
Anonymous Senior PA sources told PA media that the decision was made in light of the rumors of a deterioration in Chairman Abbas’s medical condition and of his stay in a Pittsburgh hospital during his recent visit to the US. There have been leaks from medical officials that the chairman is fighting gastric cancer.
Abbas appeared to be in poor health during his speech at the UN Security Council in February.