Rawhi Fattuh

Rawhi Fattuh (روحي فتوح, also transliterated as Rauhi Fattouh) (born 1949) was the interim President of the Palestinian Authority, following the death of Yasser Arafat on November 11, 2004 until January 15 2005. By Palestinian law, he was to hold the post for 60 days until an election is held. The elections were held and won by Mahmoud Abbas who was sworn in after Fattouh left office.

A member of Arafat's Fatah movement, Fattuh became the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (i.e. parliament) on March 10, 2004. He was elected in 1996 as a representative of the town of Rafah (in the Gaza Strip), where he was born and has lived for most of his life. He served as secretary to the council until November 2003, when he became the Minister of Agriculture in the government of Ahmed Qureia.

In March 2004, Fatah nominated him as its candidate for the post of speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, with 34 Fatah delegates voting in favour and 10 against. His appointment as interim President by the Fatah-dominated PLO was therefore no surprise: When Arafat fell ill, the Palestinian leadership agreed to appoint Fattuh as interim president for a 60-day period until elections were held, in accordance with the Palestinian Authority's Basic Law. The decision to appoint Fattuh was made on November 10, 2004, and Fattuh took up the position just the next day, following Arafat's death in France.

Fattuh is generally considered a moderate. He supported Ahmed Qureia, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, as Arafat's permanent replacement. Qureia is considered to have played an instrumental role in the negotiation of the Oslo Accords and has served in Arafat's place in the past.