RAMALLAH, April 7, 2018 (WAFA) – Invitations have been sent out to 700 members of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the parliament in exile, to attend the upcoming session scheduled for April 30 in Ramallah.

PNC President Salim Zanoun told Voice of Palestine radio on Saturday that meeting will open with a statement by President Mahmoud Abbas.

It agenda will include the intra-Palestinian reconciliation, the situation of the Palestinian refugees and the US decision recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The meeting will also discuss election of a new executive committee for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as well as including professionals from among university presidents, businessmen and economists to substitute them for the 80 members who died in the last 10 years since the previous PNC session was held.

Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said they will boycott the meeting. The first two are anyhow not represented in PNC since they are not members in the PLO and therefore they were not invited to the meeting. However, Hamas affiliates in the Palestinian Legislative Council can attend in their capacity as elected lawmakers.

The PFLP, which is one of the founding members of the PLO, said it will not attend the PNC meeting in a protest move.

M.K.