Why Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the Palestinian parliament — and what it means for the future
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s recent call to dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the Palestinian Authority’s parliament, comes as the culmination of more than a decade of political deadlock and division. The last parliamentary elections — held in 2006, and returning a Hamas majority — led to a brief civil war in 2007 between the two dominant Palestinian parties, Hamas and Fatah, and subsequent divisions left the legislative body in a state of paralysis. What’s more, the basic links between the Palestinian leadership and the people have badly frayed.
Since this effective suspension of Palestinian democracy, Abbas has relied on a provision in the Palestinian Authority’s interim constitution to exercise full lawmaking authority in the West Bank.… Seguir leyendo »