Fatah to boycott Palestinian parliamentary session

The ousted Fatah party will boycott today’s session of the Hamas-dominated parliament to protest against the militant group’s overturning of new powers for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas has 74 seats in the new parliament and Fatah has 45. Yesterday, Hamas nullified powers the outgoing Fatah-ruled parliament gave to Abbas to cancel the new parliament’s laws and appoint Fatah officials to key positions.

Fatah politicians responded by walking out of the parliament chamber.

Azzam al-Ahmed, Fatah’s parliamentary faction leader, served notice of the boycott, and said the party would file suit against Hamas in the Palestinian Supreme Court today.

“They used their majority to infringe the law on behalf of their interests, and we are resorting now to the judiciary to help us protect the law,” al-Ahmed said.