Ma'an Ramallah – The Central Elections Commission reported on Tuesday that the head of the Presidential Court, Dr. Rafik Husseini, called on the General Pleas Court to remove all Palestinian Legislative Council candidates who are employees of any government institution, including universities.
The ruling came in accordance with the amended Palestinian Elections Law of 2005. It was supported by the instructions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In his ruling, Husseini called for all government institutions to stop paying salaries to employees running in the PLC elections. The ruling also demanded that the employees not be allowed to return to former posts, in accordance with the law. The judge stressed that any other course of action is unacceptable, as it would be in contravention of Palestinian law.
The amended Elections Law stipulates that employees of public institutions can only be candidates in Palestinian elections if they resign from their government posts.