Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice president. It’s a major step by the aging leader to designate a successor.

For many ordinary Palestinians, the appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh was emblematic of how out-of-touch the leadership of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority has become.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organisation said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.