Vice Deputy-Speaker of Palestinian Parliament, Hassan Khuraishah, Resigns in Protest to the Obstruction of the Democratic Process

Second Vice deputy-speaker of the PLC resigns from post

Monday August 20, 2007 16:56 by Rashid Hilal - 1 of International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Editorial Group

The second Vice Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hassan Khuraishah, resigned from his post on Monday in protest against the continuous obstruction of the democratic process.

Khuraishah announced his resignation at a press conference in the central West Bank City of Ramallah on Monday afternoon.

Khuraishah is an independent Palestinian parliamentarian, who was supported by Hamas during the 2006 Parliamentary elections.

Khreshah’s resignation deepens the political crisis faced by an administration whose legal term of office has already expired. While the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently called on Hamas to elect a new administrative committee for the PLC, the Hamas movement refused to do so.

Hamas currently holds 75 of 120 seats in the PLC, making it the largest Parliamentray bloc.

Khuraishah stated “there is no going back from my resignation unless the council convenes in new term that will cater to the needs of Palestinians and bring an end to the current political crisis. I hope that my resignation will leave and legal void in the PLC, a void that will force the various Parliamentary blocs to hold fresh elections.”

Khuraishah added that he admired the previous Fateh-headed Parliamentray Council as it had been able to expose the corruption of political and security leaders and had even passed a vote of no confidence against the government. Khuraishah added that the current council was unable to function as its predecessor had and “had no role in monitoring the human rights violations and the continuous killings and kidnappings because of continued infighting.”

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