Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization

Organization

Ahmad Al-Shuqeiry was the first Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee elected by the Palestinian National Council in 1964, and was succeeded in 1967 by Yahya Hammuda. In February 1969, Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO. He continued to be PLO leader (sometimes called chairman, sometimes president) until his death in November 2004. The EC appointed Mahmoud Abbas chairman within hours of Arafat's death.

The quorum for legitimate decisions is 12 of the 18 members, according to the Palestinian National Covenant, the constitution of the PLO.

Members

The executive committee currently has 16 members, elected by the Palestinian National Council, often as representatives of the PLO member factions. The head of the EC is the chairman, who since 2004 has been Mahmoud Abbas.

On 27 August 2009, the PNC elected six new members to the EC to replace members who had died (including Yasser Arafat) since the last plenary PNC meeting in 1996. The vote took place in an extraordinary meeting, due to lack of the requisite PNC quorum. Among the six elected were Ahmad Qurei and Hanan Ashrawi. Some Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, boycotted the PNC meeting. They called the PLO illegal and illegitimate, because they and other Palestinian factions were not represented in the organization, and was a violation of the Cairo and Mecca agreements and the National Conciliation Document, which envisioned simultaneous elections for the Palestinian National Council and the Palestinian Authority.

On 24 August 2015, Abbas said that he had resigned from the PLO’s executive committee along with ten other members, One of them was Asad Abdul Rahman.

Current members

The current members of the Executive Committee as of 7 November 2023 are:

1. Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah) (Chairman)
2. Hussein al-Sheikh (Fatah) (Secretary General)
3. Azzam al-Ahmad (Fatah)
4. Ziad Abu Amr (independent)
5. Faisal Aranaki (Arab Liberation Front)
6. Ahmad Abu Houli (independent)
7. Adnan al-Husayni (independent)
8. Ramzi Khoury (Fatah)
9. Ahmed Majdalani (Popular Struggle Front)
10. Mohammad Mustafa (independent)
11. Ramzi Rabah (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine)
12. Saleh Ra'fat (Palestinian Democratic Union)
13. Bassam al-Salhi (Palestinian People’s Party)
14. Ahmad Bayyoud Tamimi (independent)
15. Wasel Abu Yousef (Palestinian Liberation Front)
16. Ali Abu Zuhri (independent)

References

References

1. [https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20576-abbas-confirms-resignation-from-plo-executive-committee ''Abbas confirms resignation from PLO Executive Committee''] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-09-10 . The Middle East Monitor, 24 August 2015)
2. (1999). "Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949–1993". [[Oxford University Press]].
3. [https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/19862D03C564FA2C85257ACB004EE69B ''Status of Palestine in the United Nations''] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-10-12 . UNGA Resolution A/RES/67/19, 29-11-2012
   "Taking into consideration that the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, in accordance with a decision by the Palestine National Council, is entrusted with the powers and responsibilities of the Provisional Government of the State of Palestine")
4. [http://www.passia.org/images/meetings/2014/oct/28/PA-PLO2.pdf ''PLO vs. PA''] {{webarchive. link. (2016-03-04 . Passia, September 2014)
5. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17989637.html The PLO Executive Committee is to hold a meeting on issues related to the Middle East peace process here Saturday, Palestinian Permanent Delegate to the Cairo-based Arab League Mohamed Sobeih said today.]{{dead link. (February 2019). link. (2012-06-29)
6. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA2 ''Abbas, Mahmud''], p.2. Philip Mattar, Encyclopedia of the Palestinians. Infobase Publishing, 2005
7. [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Palestinian+affairs.-a0207706170 ''Palestinian affairs'']. The Daily Middle East Reporter, 25 August 2009.
8. "Executive Committee (EC)".
9. [https://archive.today/20120629145754/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/PLO+picks+new+leaders+at+landmark+meeting-a01611977736 ''PLO picks new leaders at landmark meeting'']. AFP, 27 August 2009.
10. [http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/08/2009826105648928211.html ''PLO holds poll amid criticism'']. Al Jazeera, 26 August 2009.
11. though their resignations were subject to approval by the Palestinian National Council. The executive committee members who announced their resignation were to continue to hold their positions until the PNC meeting in April 2018.[https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767521 ''PNC chair confirms controversial session postponed'']. Ma'an News Agency, 9 September 2015
12. "Asaad Abd al-Rahman".
13. "Executive Committee (EC)".