Purpose | Executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization Government of the State of Palestine |
---|---|
Mahmoud Abbas | |
Membership | 16 members |
Parent organization | Palestinian National Council |
Officeholders whose status is disputed are shown in italics |
Member state of the Arab League |
Palestine portal |
The Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO EC) (Arabic: اللجنة التنفيذية لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, romanized: al-Lajnah al-Tanfīdhīyah li-Munaẓẓamat al-Taḥrīr al-Filasṭīnīyah) is the highest executive body of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and acts as the government of the State of Palestine.[1][2][3]
The EC represents the organization internationally.[4] It represents the Palestinian people, supervises the various PLO bodies, executes the policies and decisions set of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) and the Palestinian Central Council, and handles the PLO’s financial issues.[4] The EC meets in the Palestinian territories or abroad.[5] The head of the EC (executive committee) is the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee (sometimes called President), elected by the PNC. Mahmoud Abbas has been the chairman since the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004.
Executive committee members hold special areas of responsibility, such as military matters, foreign affairs, finance and social affairs, making their role similar to that of ministers in a national government. Besides other functions, the executive committee is involved in the nomination of candidates for the PNC, and when elections to the PNC are not feasible, the executive committee may appoint PNC members.[4]