From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Abbas names Hussein al-Sheikh as temporary replacement if he is unable to serve
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNurit Yohanan is The Times of Israel's Palestinian and Arab world correspondent
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a presidential decree stating that if he can no longer fulfill his role, and in the absence of a Palestinian Legislative Council, the position will be filled temporarily by the deputy chairman of the PLO Executive Committee, Hussein al-Sheikh.
The Palestinian Legislative Council has not been active since the Hamas terror group seized power by force in Gaza in 2007.
According to the Palestinian Basic Law, in the event of incapacity due to illness or death, the PA president is supposed to be replaced by the speaker of the Legislative Council. In November 2024, Abbas issued a decree amending the law, appointing Rawhi Fattouh, a senior Fatah official with little popular backing, as his temporary successor. At the time, the move was seen as intended to prevent the chairmanship from passing to Aziz Dweik, the Hamas-affiliated speaker of the defunct Legislative Council.
The 89-year-old Abbas’s new decree cancels Fattouh’s appointment and stipulates that al-Sheikh will replace him in the event of incapacity.
Al-Sheikh was appointed as Abbas’s deputy in the PLO last April — the first such appointment in nearly 50 years.
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