OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A prominent rival of president Mahmoud Abbas called for the ouster of the veteran leader Monday as Palestinians seek to organize a congress for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Mohammad Dahlan, once a leading figure in Abbas’ Fatah party but now in exile in Dubai, took to his Facebook page to criticize the Palestinian president.

His comments came after Abbas resigned Saturday as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Executive Committee in a bid to force new elections for the top body.

His resignation along with more than half of the 18-member committee will only take effect with a meeting of the Palestine National Council.

The PNC is a congress of 740 members representing those who live in the Palestinian territories and the diaspora. It has not met since 1996.

The opposition saw Abbas’ move as a political maneuver aimed at empowering his allies and marginalizing opponents ahead of the 80-year-old’s eventual retirement.

Dahlan, Fatah’s former strongman in Gaza, however said the resignation of Abbas must be accepted and the future congress should “declare null and void all decisions by Abbas and his allies because they are illegal.”