Dahlan calls to integrate Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the PLO
Aug. 28, 2015 11:23 P.M. (Updated: Aug. 29, 2015 7:54 P.M.)
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=767309

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Former Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan called Friday
for integrating all Palestinian factions -- including Islamic Jihad and
Hamas-- into the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Dahlan told BBC Arabic that the "homeland is in danger, and the PLO is in
danger.”

The Palestinian National Council -- responsible for deciding on PLO policies
and electing officials for the PLO's primary executive body -- is set to
meet for the first time in nearly 20 years next month in order to elect the
new Executive Committee.

The move has raised criticism from Palestinian leaders across factions, some
of whom argue that changes to the national institution are being carried out
unilaterally by the Fatah party.

Dahlan added that he does not seek to become president but has a a right to
run for presidency "if he wants."

The ex-leader and Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member also called
to stop security coordination with Israel, and said he considers the Oslo
Accords to be invalid.

Dahlan was once a leading figure in Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's
Fatah party and had headed Gaza's powerful security apparatus.

The leader fell from grace in June 2007 after the rout of his forces by
Hamas in deadly week-long street battles which saw the movement expel Fatah
from the coastal enclave.

After a bout of fighting within the Fatah movement, Dahlan was exiled to Abu
Dhabi and later tried in absentia in 2014 on corruption charges.

Dahlan earlier this week alleged on his personal Facebook page that Abbas
was destroying the last effective national institutions and removing
mechanisms that hold the president and other leadership accountable.


Two legislatures, one meeting

On Thursday, Fatah central committee member Mohammad Shtayyah called on
Hamas members of the PLC to participate in the upcoming PNC meeting.

The Hamas movement holds a majority of seats in the PLC but the body has not
convened since divisions between Hamas and Fatah following Hamas' victory in
PLC elections resulted in the separation of power between the two parties in
the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively in 2007.

The PLC's 132 members were elected by the Palestinian people in 1995 to
effectively serve as the legislative body to the Palestinian Authority, the
provisional government intended to incrementally transfer power from Israeli
to Palestinian leadership through the Oslo Accords.

While the Palestinian Authority enacted a law in 1995 declaring that all
members of the PLC would become members of the PNC, the law was repealed in
2005.

The new law instated at the time did not include information regarding the
automatic membership of the PLC members in the PNC. The legality of
participation by either Hamas or Islamic Jihad in the upcoming PNC meeting
is unclear.

Earlier this month president Mahmoud Abbas announced his resignation as head
of the PLO Executive Committee, and several others stepped down, in a move
that many believe is paving the way for Abbas to step down from presidency.


The PNC meeting that will decide the fate of the PLO Executive Committee is
set to be held on the 15 and 16 of September in Ramallah.