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The PLC enters state of complete paralysis

The Palestinian Legislative Council entered yesterday in a state of complete paralysis after failing to hold a session because of the boycott by Hamas members in the PLC and because Hamas prevented Fatah PLC members from entering the PLC hall in Gaza and prevented the employees from connecting Ramallah with Gaza through videoconferencing. Observers believe that another session scheduled next week will also fail, which means granting the President to use his authorities as stipulated in the Basic Law in the absence of the role of the PLC. Legal experts said the state of paralysis of the PLC and its continuation will push President Abbas to commission the current PM Salam Fayyad to form a government at the end of the period of the emergency government in a few days and that Abbas will grant Fayyad a period of three weeks according to the Basic Law and then two additional weeks before presenting the normal government to the PLC to get the confidence vote, and in case the PLC fails to convene which is the expected scenario, the government will continue its work as caretaker government until the PLC can convene.

Al-Ayyam said yesterday that observers affirm that Hamas boycott to the works of the PLC will push President Abbas to activate Article (43) of the Basic Law which allows him to issue decisions that take the force of laws in the absence of the PLC. according to several independent observers, the continuous obstruction of the works of the PLC whether by Hamas or Fatah will serve keeping the emergency government to become a caretaker government at the end of the emergency government term.

Minister of Information and Justice Riyad al-Malki said the government and the Presidency are discussing now at the highest levels a mechanism to get out of the current legal dilemma and the relation between the current government and the PLC. he pointed out that the government will not announce anything until the end of the legal period of the emergency government. Ali Khashan, Secretary of the Constitution's Legal Committee, said President Abbas cannot extend the state of emergency unless he gets the approval of two thirds of the PLC members, but the President can issue a new decree saying that the reasons that led to declaring the state of emergency still exist so he can keep the state of emergency.

Published at Al Ayyam NewsPaper on July 12, 2007