Hussein Sheikh as PLO's first vice president: Palestinian reform or Abbas gesture?
Mahmoud Abbas' move to create a vice chairman position within the PLO may signal potential plans for succession, but the decision is clouded by the PLO's waning influence and uncertainty over Palestinian governance in Gaza.
On Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) announced that 64-year-old Hussein al-Sheikh, the current secretary-general of the PLO’s executive committee and a close ally of President Mahmoud Abbas, was approved by the executive committee to assume the position of vice president. Al-Sheikh was chosen out of the 16 executive committee members of the PLO.
What happened: Sheikh, now the first vice president ever in the PLO's history since 1964, rose to the post 48 hours after the PLO's Central Council voted Thursday to create the position. According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, 170 members of the Central Council voted in favor of amending the PLO bylaws to create the position, while one member opposed and another abstained. The vote took place during a two-day session in Ramallah that began on Wednesday, where its roughly 180 members were invited to attend.
Abbas, 89, holds the power to delegate tasks to, remove or accept the resignation of the newly approved vice chairman, according to Wafa.
Al-Sheikh has headed the executive committee for three years and has led the PLO’s negotiations affairs office. He has also served as the PA’s Minister of the General Authority of Civil Affairs since 2007, making him the key point of contact with Israeli authorities surrounding civilian affairs in the West Bank.
