The ruling Fatah party named Mahmoud Abbas as its candidate to replace Yasser Arafat as chairman of the Palestinian Authority in Jan. 9 elections, a Palestinian official said on Monday.
The Fatah Central Committee, the movement's main decision-making body, picked Abbas as its nominee at a meeting in Ramallah, said Intissar al-Wazir, a member of the body, according to The AP.
Abbas, 69, has already been named head of the PLO. He faces challenges from a growing list of candidates. Among the most serious figures considering a run is Marwan Barghouthi, the West Bank Fatah leader serving five life terms in an Israeli prison.
People close to Barghouthi have announced the latter’s willingness to run for presidency in accordance with the public's will, even if this means having to go against Fatah's decision.
Ziad Abu Ein, member of Fatah’s higher committee in the West Bank and one of Barghouthi confidants, said that the jailed leader has not made a final decision yet, however a decision may be imminent in accordance with public pressure.
"If public opinion is pushing for a Barghouthi nomination, then he will run for elections," Abu Ein told Albawaba.
Sources have asserted that Fatah's Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council are not willing to support Barghouthi's nomination. But, they noted the legitimacy of Fatah members is questionable. Due to the situation in the occupied territories in the past few years and especially this year, Fatah members are currently not officially registered. A conference was supposed to take place earlier this year to take care of all the formalities but it never took place. "We are not responsible for the division within Fatah’s leadership…the older generation (of leaders) has been postponing the sixth Fatah convention for the past 15 years – it is their fault," Abu Ein stressed.
"Even in the case that Mr. Barghouthi wins the elections, he would still be able to function from prison as the responsibilities of managing the Palestinian Authority would be still divided between Abbas (who will still head the executive panel of PLO) and Ahmed Qurei (who will still be the prime minister and hence retain most of the control). What Marwan is trying to do is get recognition for his experience and political history…even if he is released I don’t think he will run for elections," Abu Ein concluded.
On the other hand, Barghouthi's wife Fadwa announced that her husband Marwan is considering running for presidency.
However, the former West Bank security chief, Gibril Rajoub, dismissed the speculations about Barghouthi. "Marwan is a disciplined Palestinian leader and I don’t think he will act against Fatah's will and without their support, although he still has the right to run for presidency as an independent, but I don’t think he is going to. Marwan must realize the impact of doing such a thing from his Israeli cell and the effect this will have on the Palestinian people," Rajoub stated. (albawaba.com)
