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.

Fatah veteran who spent more than 10 years in Israeli jails in 1970s and 1980s is seen as a successor to Mahmoud Abbas.