Mahmoud Abbas Resigns as Executive Chairman of PLO

abbas_abdrabbo_baroud — Abbas will continue in his role as PA leader. (File)

Palestinian Autonomy president Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly quit his post as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which he held from 2004, alongside several other top lieutenants. Abbas will continue in his role as PA leader.

The news, which had been widely anticipated since earlier this week, was confirmed by local news agency Ma’an, Al-Arabiya news channel, and AFP.

“The resignation of the president of the executive committee Mahmud Abbas and more than half of its members has created a legal vacuum, and therefore the Palestine National Council (PNC) has been asked to meet in one month to elect a new executive committee,” committee member Wassel Abu Yussef.

Yussef and another senior official, Saeb Erakat, noted that the resignations of the ten committee leaders will not come into force until the PNC is gathered. All of the officials will be eligible for re-election, if they put themselves forward.

The 18-man PLO executive committee serves as the de facto cabinet of the PA, which has control over the non-Israeli segments of the West Bank, but not Gaza.

The PNC, which comprises both Palestinians living in the West Bank and the diaspora, last met in 2009 to nominate six members of the committee.

The #PA is not Abbas, and Abbas is not the PA or the PLO for that matter. It is the entire system which acts as the occupation's proxy.

— مريم البرغوثي (@MariamBarghouti) August 22, 2015

Mahmoud Abbas is a traitor; no 1 has done more damage to the Palestine cause than this quisling. Let's hope he's gone from the scene asap

— Refaatesque (@ThisIsGaZa) August 22, 2015