Palestinians divide spoils of power

The Palestinian leadership divided up the spoils of Yasser Arafat’s power on Thursday, as Parliament Speaker Rawhi Fattuh was sworn in as acting head of the Palestinian Authority and ex-premier Mahmud Abbas became the new Palestine Liberation Organisation supremo.

After a minute’s silence was observed in the Palestinian Parliament for Arafat, Fattuh took the oath of office and promised that elections for a permanent successor would be held within 60 days.

Under the terms of the Palestinian basic law, the mini Constitution, Fattuh will remain as caretaker head of the Palestinian Authority until fresh elections are held in 60 days.

Fattuh pledged in a brief speech to MPs that elections would be held within the two-month time frame.

”I promise to convene the elections within the time period as called for by the basic law” as he stressed the importance of democratic values.

Fattuh also hailed Arafat as the ”father of Palestinian nationalism — the first fighter and a great martyr”.

However, the little known Fattuh, (55) is not seen as a long-term replacement for Arafat, as he lacks widespread support in the dominant Fatah faction while he also lacks a seat on the PLO’s executive committee.

As widely expected, 69-year-old Abbas was named as the new permanent PLO leader, effectively becoming the most senior leader.

While the head of the Palestinian Authority represents all the citizens of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the PLO chairperson is the effective representative of all Palestinians, both in the occupied territories and the wider diaspora.

Abbas has also been acting as head of Arafat’s dominant Fatah faction but, in a major suprise move, the PLO’s Tunis-based politburo chief Faruq Qaddumi was named to the position of chairperson.

Qaddumi rejected the Oslo peace accords which ushered in the Palestinian Authority and did not return from exile in 1994 with the rest of the leadership, including Arafat, Abbas and current prime minister Ahmed Qorei.

However, he remained on friendly terms with Arafat and was the first of his senior lieutenants to attend the hospital in France where Arafat lost his fight for life early on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear if Qaddumi’s appointment would signal his return to the territories.

Qorei (67), meanwhile will remain as head of the government and, with Fattuh playing a largely ceremonial role, he can be expected to take over some of Arafat’s security powers.

Arafat and Qorei constantly battled for control of the myriad security apparatus with the prime minister even submitting his resignation at one stage.

The Palestinian Authority, PLO and Fatah had all been headed by Arafat, who dominated all aspects of Palestinian political life for the best part of a half a century.

There have been growing calls for the leadership of the main Palestinian institutions to be divided up, particularly from younger members of Fatah, who are expected to push for a reformist to run as president.

The Palestinians had planned to hold presidential elections in the spring of next year even before Arafat’s health crisis erupted.

However, the continued presence of Israeli troops and roadblocks in the occupied territories gives the Palestinian leadership a perfect get-out clause if it wants to delay the elections.

The last and only polls took place in January 1996, following the Oslo autonomy accords between the Palestinians and Israel and the creation of Palestinian Authority in 1994.

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