President of the Palestinian National Authority
As upon the establishment of the Palestinian Authority there had not been held presidential elections, Yasser Arafat as Chairman of the PLO and as the man who negotiated the Oslo Accords, became as a matter of course the first Ra'ees or President of the Palestinian National Authority on 5 July 1994, upon the formal inauguration of the governing body. With the elections on 20 January 1996, Arafat's presidency for the interim phase was formalized.