Rawhi Fattuh ( ar, روحي فتوح, , also transliterated as Rauhi Fattouh; born 23 August 1949) is the former

Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council The Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council is the chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council of the Palestinian Authority. As Chairman, the Speaker acts as interim President of the Palestinian National Authority if the latter is unabl ...

and was the interim President of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

, following the death of

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

on 11 November 2004 until 15 January 2005. Under Palestinian law, he was to hold the post for sixty days until an election was held. The

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

were held and won by

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...

, who was sworn in on 15 January 2005.Bio entry appears in the PASSIA (Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs) website, listed as FATTOUH, RAWHI Ahmed Mohammed (1949-) under "Personalities" at Link checked 11 April 2011. PASSIA's entry is referenced by other online biographical sources. He was elected to the

Central Committee of Fatah The Fatah Central Committee is the highest decision-making body of the Palestinian people, Palestinian organization and political party, Fatah. History The first Fatah Central Committee was formed in February 1963, consisting of ten members, includ ...

in December 2016.

Biography

Fattuh was elected in 1996 as a representative to the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, e ...

of the town of

Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestinian ...

, (in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

), where he was born and has lived for most of his life. He served as secretary to the PLC until October 2003, when he became the Minister of Agriculture in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Ahmed Qureia Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic '' kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointed to the positi ...

. In July 2004, Fatah nominated Fattuh as its candidate for

, with 34 Fatah delegates voting in favour and 10 against. In November 2004, Fattuh supported

Ahmed Qurei Ahmed Ali Mohammed Qurei (or Qureia; ar, أحمد علي محمد قريع, ), also known by his Arabic ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Alaa (, ) (born 26 March 1937) is a former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. First appointe ...

, his predecessor as Speaker and former Prime Minister, to succeed Arafat as President. Fattuh did not run in the 2006 legislative election and is no longer a member of the PLC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fattouh, Rawhi 1949 births Living people Fatah members Presidents of the Palestinian National Authority Speakers of the Palestinian Legislative Council Central Committee of Fatah members