As seen at TheMediaLine.org.
Last week Abbas announced he would not run as a candidate in the elections, slated for January 24, 2010.
But on Tuesday Palestinian negotiator Saib Ariqat that if Abbas felt the notion of a Palestinian state was in danger he would “not remain in the presidency.”
The latest comments suggest Abbas may not wait until the elections to step down.
According to the Palestinian constitution, Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council from Abbas’s rival party Hamas, will automatically take Abbas’ place as chairman.
“There is a possibility that if he quits the P.A., he will be succeeded by Dweik,” Mansour Tahboub, senior editor for the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam told The Media Line. “That’s very serious and very dangerous.”
“I think that’s what Israel is waiting for,” he added, “because they need more chaos in the West Bank so they can say the Palestinians are not doing anything.”
Since Abbas’ announcement last Thursday there has been speculation that he may dissolve the Palestinian Authority altogether or unilaterally declare the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Many believe Abbas is not serious in his intentions, but is applying a political ruse to pressure the Israelis and the Americans into falling in line with Palestinian demands.
Muntasir Hamdan, a political correspondent for the Palestinian Al-Hayyat Al-Jadida rebuffed speculation that talks of not running in the elections were a tactical ruse.
“It’s not a political game,” he told The Media Line. “People view the president as having a clear stand. He gave a clear political program before the last elections and said he would work towards building a state and reaching a political settlement but this didn’t pan out.”
“He’s killing a few birds with one stone,” Hamdan said. “He’s telling the Palestinians that the path to a settlement is blocked; he’s telling the Israelis that they’re the ones impeding a settlement; and he’s telling the American administration that their efforts to boost the peace process have reached a dead end. I believe he’s very and clearly serious.”
The Palestinians want the Obama Administration to put further pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to freeze construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently praised Netanyahu during a visit to the region, referring to what she termed “unprecedented” Israeli concessions.
The statement came in contrast to the Obama administration’s previously stated position that all Israeli construction in territories it occupied in the 1967 war must be frozen.
The Palestinians were openly angered by the American flip-flop, all but killing their hopes that Obama would pressure Netanyahu into an Israeli freeze on settlement building. Responding to Clinton’s statement, a spokesman for Abbas said there was “no hope of negotiations on the horizon.”
