Palestinian Fatah party ends conference with boost for Abbas
by Associated Press
RAMALLAHDec 05, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Associated Press
Dec 05, 2016 12:00 am
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tightened his hold on Fatah and shut out a key rival, according to unofficial results yesterday of leadership elections in the movement which has dominated West Bank politics for decades.
The election comes at a time of intense behind-the-scenes battles among senior Fatah members to succeed Abbas once the 81-year-old decides to step down. However, Abbas has given no sign that he plans to retire from the presidency or his top jobs in Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Unofficial results indicated that top vote getters were Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian uprising leader jailed by Israel, and Jibril Rajoub, a former West Bank security chief. Both are seen as potential Abbas successors, and their strong showing could improve their eventual succession bids.
While Abbas cemented his control over the movement, the re-election of party stalwarts and Abbas loyalists is bound to affirm Fatah's public image as a stale, aging movement that has failed to deliver on Palestinian dreams of statehood and is out of touch with the concerns of ordinary Palestinians.
During the conference, the delegates approved Abbas' long-standing political program of setting up a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel even though the strategy has hit a dead end. Gaps have been too wide between Abbas and Israeli hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu, in power since 2009, to allow for meaningful negotiations.
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