Hamas: Abbas to get rid of rivals in PLO Executive Committee

Palestinian Authority President and head of the PLO Executive Committee Mahmoud Abbas only resigned from the committee in a bid to get rid of his rivals, Palestinian newspaper Al-Resalah reported the Deputy Chief of the Hamas Political Bureau Mousa Abu-Marzouk said yesterday.

Abu-Marzouk said Abbas’s plan is to form the executive committee based on his own choices while calling for the Palestinian National Council to convene.

Abu-Marzouk wrote on Facebook: “The collective resignations came to pave the way ahead of electing a new executive empty of all rivals.”

The senior Hamas official questioned Abbas’s claims that the PLO was being democratically reformed based upon deals made with the different Palestinian factions, adding that Abbas had excluded Islamic Jihad and Hamas.

“This act is well-planned by Abbas,” Abu-Marzouk said. “Abbas likes to be alone and without rivals.”

If Abbas does not intend to get rid of rivals and reinforce his own control over the PLO, Abu-Marzouk suggested that the new Executive Committee not include any of its old members or new members over the age of 80.

“Where are the signs of national unity and the efforts of ending the internal division while the biggest Palestinian faction is out of the new arrangements?” Abu-Marouk asked.