Even PLO officials are admitting that Mahmoud Abbas is a dictator, making decisions without consulting anyone

For years, we've discussed how Mahmoud Abbas is the de facto dictator of the Palestinian areas in the West Bank. He is the head of the PLO, the president of the Palestinian Authority and the leader of Fatah (which he purged of any opposition.) 

Oh, and he handpicked all members of the Palestinian Constitutional Court so he has effective control over the judiciary as well, he used them to dissolve the Palestinian Legislative Council which was the only institution he didn't control!

As long as he was making decisions that the rest of the PLO supported, no one complained about this system. But last week Abbas decided to resume security and financial ties with Israel, and the rest of the Palestinian leadership is upset. '

As The Media Line reports:

A deep schism threatens the unity of the Palestinian Authority, its ruling Fatah movement and the Palestine Liberation Organization amid turmoil among senior officials. 

Many of these officials were flabbergasted by Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh’s announcement last week that the PA would restore its relations with Israel, which were cut off five months ago amid Israeli talk of West Bank annexations. They say they were not consulted.

A top PLO official who asked to remain anonymous says recent decision-making was unprecedentedly centralized, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and a tight circle making crucial and pressing choices without referring to official institutions.

“We were not consulted and we did not participate in drafting the decision…. There is a handful of people, including the president, who make decisions, and no one is informed about them,” the official tells The Media Line.

“The PA is governed by one individual. We are ruled by a dictatorial regime,” the official says, adding: “The fear now [is that] the president will continue to make important decisions without consulting the rest of the leadership.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the Fatah Central Committee says that “tempers are at the boiling point” inside the largest Palestinian faction.

This seems to have especially hurt Jibril Rajoub, who had been trying to reconcile with Hamas for the past five months. Abbas' decision torpedoed any chances of both reconciliation and of elections (which would never have happened anyway.)

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