Is Abbas using Big Brother policy to threaten opponents?
President Mahmoud Abbas seems to be working to punish and pressure his opponents, by halting their monthly stipend and establishing a High Constitutional Court.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took two decisions that caught his opponents by surprise. On April 3, he issued a presidential decree, announcing the formation of a constitutional court, which some see as a prelude to prevent Hamas from taking over the presidential seat in case of his absence; Hamas leader and Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Abdel Aziz Dweik is authorized to handle the tasks of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) president according to the Palestinian Basic Law in case of the president’s death, resignation or incompetence.
On April 11, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced that Abbas has suspended the front’s financial allocations disbursed by the Palestinian National Fund, which acts as a Ministry of Finance at the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Within a short period, the decision was also applied to the other leftist opponent: the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).
