Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 next month. AP
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 next month. AP
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 next month. AP
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 next month. AP

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MENA

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, 89, names successor 'in case of vacancy'

Vice president Hussein Al Sheikh would assume presidency for 90 days

The National

October 26, 2025

  • English
  • Arabic

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued new orders for his deputy Hussein Al Sheikh to replace him "in the event of a vacancy".

The decree issued by Mr Abbas, 89, provides for Mr Al Sheikh to "temporarily assume the duties of the President for 90 days". There would then be new elections.

Mr Abbas revoked a previous order under which Rawhi Fattouh, the chairman of the Palestinian National Council, would have temporarily held the office, according to official Palestinian media.

The decision appears to bolster Mr Al Sheikh's position after he was named vice president in April, when the role was created. It comes amid international pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority with a view to one day handing it control of Gaza.

Sunday's declaration aims to "protect the Palestinian political system, safeguard our homeland, ensure its security, and preserve its constitutional institutions", Mr Abbas said. It allows for the acting president's term to be extended if elections cannot be arranged.

"The freedom of the individual, the rule of law, and the promotion of values such as equality, democracy, pluralism, and social justice are the basis of the legitimacy of any ruling system that will lead the country in the next phase of our people's history," Mr Abbas said.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) already exercises limited control over the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But Mr Abbas and his government are widely seen as unpopular. Mr Al Sheikh is regarded as having built a good working relationship with Israel during his years of representing the authority.

Mr Al Sheikh recently held talks with the former UK prime minister Tony Blair on possible future arrangements for the governing of Gaza. The US President Donald Trump's peace plan calls for a Palestinian committee to run services "until such time as the PA has completed its reform programme".

There have long been concerns of a dangerous power vacuum in the event of Mr Abbas, who turns 90 next month, becoming incapacitated. Rival factions of his Fatah party could vie for control of Palestinian institutions, and critics say Mr Abbas has dodged the question for fear of unrest.

Classification of skills

A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation. 

A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.

The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000. 

How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers

Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.

It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.

The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.

Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.

He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.

AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”

A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.

Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.

Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.

Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.

By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.

Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.

In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”

Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.

She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.

Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.

Teaching in coronavirus times
Updated: October 26, 2025, 2:10 PM
PalestineMahmoud Abbas