Hamas blames Abbas in stalemate over PLO reform
Reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization remains at an impasse among the various Palestinian factions as pressure builds against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian street is currently preoccupied with the issue of reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, one of the main points stipulated in all the Palestinian reconciliation agreements that both Fatah and Hamas accepted. The PLO, which was founded in 1964, is considered the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people domestically and abroad.
The latest reconciliation agreement, which was sealed in April 2014 and is known as the Beach Refugee Camp Agreement, calls for establishing a Temporary Leadership Framework for the PLO within five weeks of the signing of the agreement. The framework would facilitate discussion of ways to reform the PLO and its mechanisms and prepare for the elections of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the legislative body of the PLO. However, the framework has yet to be enacted.
This issue remains a source of dispute among the various Palestinian factions, as no steps have been taken in this regard to this day. The stalemate has raised many important questions: Why does Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refuse to activate the PLO’s Temporary Leadership Framework? And what is Hamas seeking to achieve through the PLO reform?
In a speech at the fourth Palestinian National Security Conference in Gaza on Nov. 2, Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ political bureau, urged the parties to work on reforming the PLO and restore its role as representative of the Palestinian people.
