Aziz Duwaik عزيز دويك |
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Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council | |
Assumed office 29 March 2006 |
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Preceded by | Rawhi Fattouh |
Personal details | |
Born | January 12, 1948 |
Political party | Hamas |
Alma mater |
An-Najah National University University of Pennsylvania |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Aziz Duwaik ( pronunciation ABH-dehl ah-ZEEZ doo-WAYKArabic: عزيز دويك ʿAzīz Dowēk) (born January 12, 1948) has been the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) since his election to that post on 18 January 2006. He was imprisoned in Israel on 6 August 2006 on charges of being a member of Hamas, but he was released on 22 June 2009. There are a supporting group of Palestinians that believe Duwaik, who is the speaker of the PLC, should be the acting President of the Palestinian National Authority, since the elected term of Mahmoud Abbas officially expired on 9 January 2009.
Prior to becoming involved in political office, Duwaik was a professor of urban geography at An-Najah National University in Nablus on the West Bank. He holds a PhD in Regional and Architecture Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.