Ramallah: The PLO affirmed 83-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as its unchallenged leader, gave new powers to a decision-making body stacked with his loyalists and pushed out remaining dissenters in a carefully staged four-day convention that ended early Friday.
The decisions by the parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organisation also opened the door to a possible path of succession - even though Abbas has blocked any discussion about what will happen when he leaves the political stage.
The session of the PLO parliament - theoretically meant to represent Palestinians everywhere - cemented the shift of power to the West Bank-based Abbas and his inner circle.
Critics say that in the absence of general elections, the PLO serves largely to lend a thin veneer of political legitimacy to Abbas’ increasingly authoritarian rule over autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The parliament, or Palestinian National Council, also issued a series of political resolutions that - while seemingly dramatic - are unlikely to have a major impact on the ground.
The council said it has instructed another PLO leadership body to suspend recognition of Israel and declared that it is no longer bound by obligations stemming from interim peace deals with Israel.
Despite such declarations, Abbas and the PLO leadership have stopped short of ending the pillar of the current, practical relationship with Israel - security coordination in the West Bank against a shared foe, the Islamist militant Hamas.
The PLO parliament met during a particularly low point for Abbas and his elusive goal of negotiating the terms of Palestinian statehood with Israel.
