RAMALLAH (PIC)– A state of anxiety prevailed in the Palestinian arena in the aftermath of an edict issued by PA chief Mahmoud Abbas controlling licenses of social societies and foundations catering for the social welfare of the Palestinian people.
Palestinian factions and political parties warned that the decree could be a prelude for terminating and outlawing those foundations and their social services to the Palestinian people.
The parties furthermore warned that by issuing such a decree Abbas was paving the way for an autocratic rule in the PA-run lands that harmonizes with the “vicious” arrest campaigns at the hands of the PA security apparatuses loyal to him against Hamas’s cadres and foundations.
According to the “arbitrary” edict the interior minister in the “illegitimate” PA emergency government is authorized to take all the “necessary measures” to control and to correct functions of those social welfare societies.
But legal and human rights institutions charged that the edict was meant to paralyze those foundations in the framework of the current state of emergency in the PA-run lands.
“The edict flagrantly violates the simplest human rights and illegally denies the formation of social foundations and institutions which was granted by the PA basic law” the Palestinian human rights center affirmed in a statement it issued in this regard.
Factions’ rejection:
The PFLP and the DFLP flayed the edict and branded it as “undemocratic” and leads to an authoritarian rule that violates the concept of collective leadership and could push the Palestinian arena into a deadlock.
“The edict is a political one in the wrong direction and opens the way for more human rights violations” said DFLP political leader Tayseer Khaled.
In this context Khaled urged the “unconstitutional” PA emergency government not to implement the edict away from the judicial apparatus and the law so as not to replicate experiments of other countries that placed foundations of the civil society under its tight grip
A number of Arab governments badly exploited the state of emergency and used it as a pretext to hit and circumvent democracy and to suspend the constitutional process in their countries he elaborated.
Abbas’s committee:
Abbas also decided to form an investigation committee to probe reasons behind the swift fall of the PA security apparatuses in Gaza Strip.
The committee is chaired by Fatah leader Zakaria Al-Agha with Ibrahim Abu Al-Naja Hisham Abdul Razek Ahmad Nasr and Suleiman Hassan as members.
He also gave the committee full authority to summon any Fatah member for investigation.
Abbas’s step came one day after he dismissed Rashid Abu Shebak the former director of the PA interior security who is widely believed to be one of Mohammed Dahalan’s closest associates and one of the mutiny trend leaders.
Shebak escaped to the West Bank after his elements were routed at the hands of elements of the PA interior ministry’s executive force and fighters of the Qassam Brigades of Hamas Movement ten days ago.
Hamas’s leadership had repeatedly informed Abbas about Abu Shebak wrongdoings and suspicious agenda but the PA chief shunned Hamas’s warnings and kept Abu Shebak as a stumbling block in the way of every PA interior minister.
