An emergency session was held by the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in the blockaded Gaza Strip on Wednesday over a recent decision by Abbas to strip five MPs of their immunity.
Reporting from the PLC headquarters a PIC news correspondent said Fatah MPs took part in the session in the first such move since 2007.
Most of the MPs who took part in the PLC session agreed that revoking parliamentary immunity is none of Abbas’s business.
Earlier speaking with the PIC Fatah MP Ashraf Jumu’a said Fatah MPs decided to attend the session for the first time since 2007 to discuss the legal status of the so-called constitutional court established by Abbas among other institutions and privileges monopolized by the latter.
Abbas’s recent decision to lift the immunity of five Fatah MPs sparked outrage in the political and human rights arena.
Palestinian parliamentarians said Abbas has no power over the PLC members.
The conveners at the PLC session voiced their firm rebuff of any attempt to violate parliamentary immunity saying no other party but the PLC is entitled to lift parliamentary immunity.
MP Ashraf Jumu’a slammed Abbas’s latest decision dubbing it “unwise” and urging Abbas to backtrack on the move and abide by the Basic Law.
“We will not remain mum over infringements of the rules and regulations of the PLC. Abbas should back off. . . . Laws cannot be contravened in such an arbitrary manner. This is just unacceptable by our people and the world alike” he added.
MP Faraj al-Ghoul said that PLC’s Basic Law grants parliamentary immunity to the MPs and that Abbas’s decision to revoke such a privilege is devoid of any legal or constitutional legitimacy.
The MP held the Palestinian presidency responsible for the repercussions of such an illegal decision urging PLC members to combine forces and rally round the five MPs so as to reactivate the PLC powers in the West Bank.
He added that no single body institution or person is entitled to rescind parliamentary immunity and that such a privilege cannot be lifted unless it garners the support of two-thirds of voters at PLC.
MP Jameel Majdalawi from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the movement decided to boycott the PLC session.
Meanwhile MP Khalil al-Hayya said the PLC will not accept any attempt to curtail parliamentary powers.
“The emergency session comes to rehabilitate the role of the PLC and face up to the despotism displayed by the executive branch” al-Hayya stated.
He expressed Hamas’s solidarity with the five MPs saying there has been an agreement among all PLC lawmakers to appeal to the Arab and world’s parliaments along with the League of Arab States so as to disclose all attempts to monopolize decision-making and infringe the Palestinian legitimacy.
