Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas pledged commitment to reform on Sunday as the embattled Palestine Liberation Organisation, of which he is chairman, held a rare meeting to name new key leaders.
The PLO, given the task since its creation in 1964 of steering the struggle against Israel for Palestinian statehood, has faced growing questions over its relevance in recent years and criticism for failing to hold regular elections to fill leadership roles.
"We pay great attention to the reform process, which is a continuous process, and we are ready to do what is necessary to make it successful," Mr Abbas said.
Sunday's meeting of the PLO's 124-member Central Committee — the first in four years — was expected to fill several executive committee vacancies, including that held by former chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, who died in 2020 after contracting the coronavirus.
Highlighting Palestinian frustration with the PLO and Mr Abbas, Sunday's meeting was boycotted by several leftist factions, and protests demanding his resignation were held in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas militants.
Ghassan Khatib, a political scientist at Birzeit University in the West Bank, said that "the very significant questions about the legitimacy" of the PLO have been fuelled by "the lack of elections".
Mr Abbas has been accused of maintaining a tight grip over the PLO, an umbrella group representing various Palestinian factions, and the Palestinian Authority, which has civilian control over parts of the West Bank.
Mr Khatib said the fact that Sunday's decisions would be made only by Mr Abbas's inner circle "will further deepen the debate and the question over legitimacy".
Palestinians have not been to the ballot box for 16 years, and their aspirations for a two-state solution are strongly rejected by Israel's right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Violence flares almost daily in the West Bank, while Mr Abbas's support has dived to historic lows in opinion polls. He was accused of autocracy in rare street protests last year.
Widely tipped to take over from Erekat is Hussein Al Sheikh, the Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister who has the job of dealing with Israel.
Analysts have speculated that Mr Al Sheikh could be Mr Abbas's preferred choice as a presidential successor, with the vote offering a chance to raise his profile.
The meeting was also due to fill the executive committee slot left by Hanan Ashrawi, who resigned in 2020 saying Palestinian politics needed "renewal and reinvigoration".
Hamas is not part of the PLO, which has been a source of friction with Mr Abbas's secular Fatah movement that has in part hindered unified Palestinian governance.
At the Gaza protest against the Ramallah meeting, Hamas official Mashir Al Masry said the PLO's central committee had "no legitimacy" and was out of touch with "the will of the Palestinian people".
He reaffirmed Hamas's demand for Mr Abbas to call elections across the Palestinian territories.
Mr Abbas has said he scrapped the elections that had been scheduled for last year because Israel refused to allow voting in annexed East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want to claim as their future capital.
But analysts said he probably baulked when polls showed Fatah would be soundly beaten by Hamas.
Mr Abbas again on Sunday said he was committed to elections "as soon as we are able to hold them in Jerusalem".
Israel bans Palestinian political activity in the city, which it regards as its "undivided capital".
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
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- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
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Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
