For the second day, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remained in Istishri Arab Hospital in Ramallah, raising a lot of local and regional concerns about the future of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the event of his absence.
Abbas's aides have given many assurance about his health, but his mere stay at the hospital at the age of 82, without any clear explanation, has opened the door to speculation and many rumors about him and the future of the PA.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa released statements and exclusive remarks from Abbas' doctors about his health, while Israeli media published various reports about his "dangerous" and "stable" condition and about his potential successor.
According to Wafa, Abbas received a phone call from Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit to wish him good health.
Israeli media quoted sources as saying that Abbas was suffering from serious pneumonia and a high fever. Some reports even went on to say that he had delegated his powers to a number of Palestinian officials.
Sources close to the president told Asharq Al-Awsat that his health improved on Monday after his fever went down. Abbas suffered from a severe high fever due to pneumonia and bronchitis, which made it difficult for him to breathe.
It is still not determined when Abbas would be discharged from hospital, as doctors had advised to keep him for monitoring.
This is the third time the president has been to hospital in a week.
Abbas was first admitted last Tuesday to undergo a small surgery in his middle ear. He was discharged hours later. He was returned to the hospital on Friday and re-admitted on Sunday, and has been there since then.
Abbas's health and repeated visits to the hospital have caused a wave of speculation about the future of the PA.
Ramallah and nearby countries are mostly worried that there is no known successor to Abbas, especially with the political and legal dispute between Fatah and Hamas over the stalled Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
Palestinian law stipulates that the PLC president shall assume the Palestinian presidency temporarily, for a period not exceeding 60 days, until presidential and legislative elections are held.
Hamas claims that PLC speaker, Abdelaziz Duwaik, is member of its movement and he assumed his post after the group won the 2006 legislative elections. He is supposed to replace Abbas, but Fatah considers the entire council to be paralyzed.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the National Council, as the PA’s main reference, would decide in the event of any unforeseen development.
The sources added that in case the president was absent for any reason, Head of the National Council Salim Zanoun will serve as interim president until elections are held.
Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the PA, has not declared a possible successor to Abbas, and avoided going into the subject directly. However, about a year ago, Abbas appointed member of the central Fatah movement, Mahmoud al-Alul, as his deputy.
Abbas took office after the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004, and is now the president of the PA, the chairman of the executive committee of PLO and president of Fatah.
