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2nd LD Writethru: Abbas expresses wish to quit political life

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas informed the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Tuesday night that he wanted to quit political life, a senior official told Xinhua.

Ghassan Shak'aa, a member of the Executive Committee of PLO, said that Abbas made his remarks during a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Abbas said he wants to retire from all his political posts, including the presidency and that he is not intending to race in the PLO executive committee elections during the next session of the Palestinian National Council (PNC)," Shak'aa said.

The PNC is expected to convene on Sept. 14 to elect new members of the PLO executive committee after more than half of its members resigned ten days ago. The current committee consists of 18 members.

"Abbas was determined on his decision when members tried to convince him otherwise," Shak'aa said.

Apart from being the Palestinian President, Abbas is the chairman of the PLO Executive Committee and the chairman of Fatah Party's central committee, a mainstream faction in PLO.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Palestinian official said that Abbas won't run for chairing the PLO executive committee elections.

Amin Maqbool, secretary general of Fatah's revolutionary council told Xinhua that Abbas informed his decision to a Fatah Central Committee meeting held in Ramallah on Monday night.

Maqbool, who attended the meeting, said President Abbas, told the meeting that he doesn't want to race for the chairman of the PLO executive committee "because he feels so tried of Israel's policy that is not committed to peace."

Maqbool unveiled that President Abbas told King Abdulla of Jordan during their meeting earlier this week that he decided not to run for the PLO chairman post.

"President Abbas insisted on his decision in spite of the request of the central committee members to withdraw his decision," said Maqbool, adding "there are attempts to convince him to run for the PLO chairman post."

The PNC is the PLO's legislative body and its highest authority. It serves as the parliament for all Palestinians in and out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), representing all sectors of the Palestinian community worldwide, including political parties, popular organizations, resistance movements, and independent figures from all sectors of life. Endit