Consensus on inclusion of 200 Palestinians abroad

Consensus on inclusion of 200 Palestinians abroad Amman – Osama Arrantissi The Follow-up Committee for the Activation of the PLO, which emerged from the Palestinian Supreme National Committee, convened in the Jordanian capital on January 14-15 . 'Arabstoday'  got hold of the minutes of the meeting of the committee, which was attended by representatives of the all Palestinian factions that participated in the Cairo meeting on December 22.
The meeting, which was chaired by Speaker of the Palestinian National Council Selim Zaanoun, discussed the draft laws of the elections of the National Council. The meeting was considered rather deliberative than conclusive, and is scheduled to be followed by a series of similar sessions on monthly basis.
According to the minutes of meeting, the discussion dealt with three points. The first was the relation between the legislative and national councils. Two opinions emerged on this matter; the first suggested that the two institutions are to be strictly separated, as linking the two would undermine the position of PLO, according to this opinion, particularly as the Legislative Council falls under a transitional phase.
It is believed that some movements, encouraged by the West, sought to replace the National Council with the Legislative Council, by promoting the latter to take over the representative stature of the PLO.
The first opinion, which required the separation of the two councils, was adopted by Fatah, Hamas, and a number of other factions.
The second opinion emphasized the need to maintain a clear link between the two bodies, while each retains its own authorities and specificities. Holders of this opinion underlined the importance of keeping the Legislative Council as part of the whole, while preserving the sovereignty of PLO above all else as a supreme Legislative reference, in addition to its legal and representative stature.  
The second point discussed in the meeting was the number of the members in the National Council, where the majority of the attendees voted that the Council does not exceed 350 members, provided that 200 are Palestinian expatriates, while the rest (150) live in Palestine.
 In this regard, Fahd Suleiman, member of politburo of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and its representative in the meeting, demanded that the Council includes 200 home-based Palestinians, and 200 Palestinians living abroad, in addition to 50 members who are not allowed to vote in the elections.
According to the minutes, the third major point of discussion was the qualifying threshold in the elections. The Palestinian Popular Struggle, Palestinian People’s Party (PPP), and the Democratic Front called for the cancellation of the qualifying threshold in the proportional representation, in order to provide all political powers with chances of representation in the council. However, Fatah adhered to keeping the qualifying threshold, claiming that it prevents the fragmentation of representation.
The meeting also discussed the need to secure the women’s quota to be of minimum 20%. In addition, it called for lowering the age to vote and to run for election equally, taking into account the importance of the role played by the youth, and allowing them to have a say in the Palestinian decision making.