The Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces on Wednesday prevented a press conference by the speaker of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Aziz Dweik in Ramallah.
The PIC reporter said that Dweik was set to hold a press conference on the PA president Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to dissolve the PLC.
Local sources reported that the PA security forces deployed in the area around the PLC building and sent journalists away ahead of the scheduled press conference.
They further detained Dweik and other MPs for about an hour at a checkpoint near Bethlehem city as they were heading to Ramallah.
The same sources said that the PA forces handed Dweik a notice to appear before the Palestinian Intelligence Service in al-Khalil for interrogation.
Spokesman for the PA Security Service Adnan al-Damiri said that the press conference was illegal since the PLC dissolution “has come into effect” and “no one can say he is a speaker or member of the council”.
In his comments on the incident on behalf of other Palestinian MPs Dweik said “We don’t accept this treatment” stressing that they have not received a legal and official order telling them that they are no longer members of the PLC.
Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday announced a unilateral decision to dissolve the PLC despite increasing warnings of its possible repercussions on the Palestinian situation.
The move was widely condemned by Palestinian resistance groups notables experts and activists and it was seen as a step toward a complete destruction of the Palestinian political system.
