The resignation of the PA president

Informed sources have reported that the Palestinian Authority president is thinking of resigning in the next few months and that he will announce this at a large meeting to which he will invite over 300 prominent local people. This meeting is likely to be held after a Palestinian National Council meeting scheduled to be held next month and before Fatah holds its conference, which is scheduled for late November. The decision to resign is prompted by Mahmoud Abbas’s old age, his exhaustion, and his desire to rest.

Yes, the president is tired and feels frustrated and disappointed, especially by the Americans and Israelis who abandoned him despite the flexibility he has shown and the concessions he has made. He put all his eggs in one basket; the so-called “peace process”. All he gained from this was more illegal settlements, discrimination, aggression, the Judaisation and Israelisation of Jerusalem, and the efforts of successive Israeli governments to hinder the establishment of a Palestinian state. What mostly fuels the president’s frustration is his despair over the potential of resuming negotiations and reaching a peace agreement, as well as the fact that the Netanyahu government is on the verge of making a long-term truce agreement with Hamas, which could intensify the divide, weaken his PA, and strengthen the rival authority in the Gaza Strip.

The president has the right to think about handing over the torch because holding on to it now would mean maintaining the farce known as the “peace process” and the status quo, which would lead to more marginalisation of the Palestinian cause, the erosion of rights and the deepening of the occupation, settlements and political division. Alternatively, it would mean surrendering and accepting Israeli commands or confrontation.

Abbas does not want to surrender nor does he want a confrontation. However, the continuation of the status quo has become very costly and threatens to have catastrophic consequences. As such, stepping down from office after renewing legitimacy by means of a PNC meeting and the Fatah conference is the right choice.

The dilemma lies in the fact that resigning after establishing a carefully tailored Palestinian political system and continuing down the same old path may be a bridge leading to the renewal of this same system.

A confrontation with the occupation to change the balance of power is necessary; it is not optional. It is the only way for national salvation provided that the confrontation is rational and based on a new vision, a comprehensive road map and a strategy that is capable of achieving national goals. This cannot be achieved without revising the past experience radically and drawing lessons and examples, as well as building on the positives, benefits and strengths. We must also get rid of all mistakes, shortcomings, corruption and tyranny, as well as the Oslo agreement and its unfair obligations.

The natural conduit for the confrontation should be national unity based on national and democratic foundations and through true political partnership in which each side receives their rights in accordance with a new national charter. This charter must preserve the people’s historical rights and narrative, embody the joint values and commonalities, and open the door to the future.

I have written previously about the surprise of the president holding a PNC meeting. I was the first to reveal what was going on. After the article was published, it became clear that there were preparations underway for holding the PNC meeting next month by having an extraordinary session mainly to change the largest number of PNC and Palestine Legislative Council members without adopting a new political programme. This is due to the fact that an extraordinary session cannot adopt such a programme; it requires a call to convene a new PNC.

I give credit where credit is due, though. The president did call for hastening the preparations for Fatah’s seventh conference, to the extent that during his opening speech at the Fatah Advisory Board meeting he threatened to make a decision no one expects of him if the preparations for the conference are not completed by September. This is despite the fact that the relationship between the conference and the preparations is unclear, but that is what he said.

It is no wonder that Abbas is thinking of resigning. He threatened this before and stressed that he would not run in the upcoming elections. He also told me in an interview over five years ago that he would not run in the next elections and asked me to wait a few months before putting forward the recommendations I presented to him for his successor.

Holding a PNC session in haste without guaranteeing the participation of the various parties across the political spectrum and those who signed the Cairo Agreement — in other words, without it being a qualitative step contributing to reviving the PNC, which has been all but dead since the Oslo Accords — will lead to turning the council into a team rather than what it is supposed to be; the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Choosing the new institutions will be done by the old illegitimate institutions, and this will prevent them from being able to step up to the challenges and dangers facing the Palestinian cause. It will only increase the Palestinian division and fragmentation.

It is not enough to invite Hamas and Islamic Jihad to participate in the upcoming PNC session just to avoid criticism, without inviting the PLO temporary leadership (the decisions of which cannot be cancelled if they do not conflict with the PLO’s executive powers) as part of the preparations for holding a new PNC session, as provided for in the Cairo Agreement. The agreement states that the national interest requires the formation of a new PNC that includes representation of all of the national and Islamic forces, factions and parties, by means of elections whenever possible in accordance with the concept of proportional representation and by consensus if elections cannot be held. Such an invitation puts Hamas in the position of fulfilling its responsibilities and cuts the road to a truce agreement with Israel. If Hamas goes on with the truce despite this, then it will bear all the consequences of doing so.

Instead of this, the preparations are being made unilaterally to hold an extraordinary PNC session for the old council behind the backs of the institutions. As of now, nothing has been approved by the PLC or the Fatah Central Committee. Instead, a tripartite committee was formed, led by Saeb Erekat with Azzam Al-Ahmad and Ahmad Majdalani.

The extraordinary session will be held based on a “quota” session where factions will choose their representatives in the council without seriously seeking to include Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The seats at the extraordinary session will be distributed to popular unions that have grown old and which are led by the factions, and to the security and military despite the fact that this is not the place or role for them. Most of the security and military members are affiliated with various factions, especially Fatah. The seats will also be distributed to independents who have been and will later be chosen by faction representatives.

If there was anything justifying the fact that the factions receive the overwhelming majority of the PNC seats during the phase of national progress, armed struggle and secret work, then there is nothing justifying this after the disappointments and disasters that have plagued the Palestinian cause since Oslo. In light of the facts, developments and variables that have come about, and as a result have radically changed the region, world and Palestinian political map, many factions have faded and there is no need for them to be represented in the executive committee. In addition to this, many factions have grown weak and new, stronger groups have emerged and carry great weight.

We need a new national council that meets the needs of the Palestinian people, as well as their aspirations and interests. Its members must be selected through elections if possible or through national consensus that must be based on objective standards. Such standards must include the number of members of the next council not exceeding 300-350, in order for it to be able to take action easily and hold meetings without it costing too much. Each group should be given the right to vote or chose their representatives, and the popular unions must be forced to hold periodic elections in order to renew change and reform. This is due to the fact that many trustees and members have held their seats for decades despite the fact that some are also carrying out government, administrative and diplomatic tasks.

If the president organised the PLO and Fatah based on unity and opened the door to succession while keeping the Palestinian options open, as well as announced his resignation, then no one could blame him because his successor or successors would be well known. However, if the political system is engineered based on his standards and in a manner that preserves the current division, then if he does resign, the response to his resignation would be demonstrations and petitions asking him to stay in his post out of fear of the chaos that may occur after he leaves. In this case, he would have stepped down in vain.

Translated from Masarat, 18 August, 2015.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.