April 27, 2025 | 10:26 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas appointed a close aide as the first Palestinian vice president on Saturday, April 26, 2025, a member of the PLO executive committee said, according to Al Arabiya.
“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy,” Wasel Abu Yousef said, in a move that positions al-Sheikh as a possible successor to Abbas.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa was quoted by Anadolu as saying the appointment was proposed by Abbas, 89, in line with a decision taken by the Palestinian Central Council during its 32nd session held in Ramallah on Thursday.
The Central Council is a permanent body derived from the Palestinian National Council, the highest legislative body affiliated with the PLO and has 188 members.
Abbas reiterated his “commitment to launching a comprehensive national dialogue, led by a joint committee of the PLO Executive Committee and the Fatah Central Committee, involving all Palestinian factions to achieve reconciliation and strengthen national unity.”
The sheikh also sent a letter of thanks to Abbas for his nomination.
The PLO Executive Committee is scheduled to meet again next Saturday to elect a new secretary-general.
Abbas also briefed the committee on upcoming political efforts aimed at ending Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
He stressed "the urgent need to accelerate the entry of humanitarian and medical aid, ensure full Palestinian governance over Gaza, and push for the full Israeli withdrawal as a step towards launching a political process to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital."
The resolution adopted Thursday said the vice president would be appointed from among the committee's members, nominated by the chairman and approved by its members. The chairman has the authority to assign, and appoint or dismiss his deputy.
The 170 members present at the meeting or participating online voted in favor of the decision, with one voting against and one abstaining.
It follows years of international pressure to reform the PLO. It also comes as Arab and Western states envision a broader role for Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA) in the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip.
Founded in 1964, the PLO is empowered to negotiate and sign international agreements on behalf of the Palestinian people, while the PA is responsible for governance in parts of the Palestinian territories.
The PLO is an umbrella organization comprising several Palestinian factions, but not the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are currently fighting Israeli forces in Gaza.
Al-Sheikh, 64, is a veteran leader of Abbas’s Fatah movement, which dominates the PA, and is considered close to the president.
The Central Council meeting was held amid a boycott by the organization’s main factions, including the Popular Front, the Democratic Front and the Palestinian National Initiative, in protest at the lack of consensus and dialogue.
Hamas criticized the meeting’s outcome, saying it ignored the requirement for national unity, and stressed the need to rebuild the PLO in a democratic and inclusive manner.
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