The Palestinian Freedom Movement (Al-Ahrar) on Monday decried Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to name Hussein al-Sheikh as interim successor in the case of his death.
“We strongly condemn the constitutional decision issued by President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term has expired, appointing the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee to assume the duties of president in the event of a vacancy in the office,” it said in a statement.
Abbas's decision would allow Sheikh to serve as the PA's interim president for a few months in the event of Abbas's death or incapacitation.
Sheikh, born in 1960, is a veteran of Fatah, the main Palestinian Liberation Organization faction founded by Yasser Arafat and now headed by Abbas.
Sheikh was named vice president of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) after its executive committee approved Abbas's nomination, according to a PLO statement.
Al-Ahrar said that a lack of understanding and moral and constitutional irresponsibility are to blame for Abbas’s decision to appoint Sheikh, arguing that it is a “disregard for the Palestinian legal system and a blatant coup against constitutional legitimacy.”
The Palestinian Freedom Movement, or Palestinian Movement of Al-Ahrar ("The Free”), is a network founded shortly after the Hamas military coup in June 2007 by former Fatah operatives, according to The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.
Al-Ahrar was established by Khaled Abu Hilal during a mass rally in the Palestinian Legislative Council Square in Gaza City.
It is self-proclaimed as a “moderate Palestinian resistance movement that opens its arms to every Palestinian Muslim who possesses national purity, believes in its ideology, and is prepared to bear the consequences of belonging,” according to its website.
Its headquarters are located in Gaza City, with various offices across the Gaza Strip.
The organization’s statement called for urgent national unity and serious efforts to put Palestinian affairs in order. It also accused Abbas of being an “usurper of power” who refuses to do anything but deviate from the national consensus, serve the interests of the Israeli “occupation,” and deepen divisions in Palestinian society.
A 'destruction of constitutional legitimacy'
Abbas is the current head of the Palestinian Authority, a position he assumed in January 2005 after Yasser Arafat. He is a member of Fatah and has been the chairman of the PLO since November 2004.
Al-Ahrar's statement called on Palestinians to condemn Abbas’s violations and “confront this senile old man and his illegitimate decisions,” defining Abbas’s so-called violations as “the foundation for the destruction of the constitutional legitimacy upon which the Palestinian Basic Law is based.”