Barghouti, Qidwa Give Abbas Ultimatum for Accepting Electoral List
WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Senior Fatah leaders Marwan Barghouti and Nasser Al-Qidwa have given Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas until 5 March to accept their electoral list, Lebanon’s Al-Akbar reported on Monday.
Abbas is also the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah movement.
Barghouti has been in an Israeli prison since 2002, while Al-Qidwa is a cousin of the late Yasser Arafat. According to senior Fatah sources, they have proposed a list to Abbas that includes young people and active Fatah members who have been effectively neutralized by Abbas due to their resistance against the Zionist regime’s occupation.
The Lebanese newspaper reported the sources as saying that they ruled out that Abbas could cancel the elections or postpone them due to regional and international pressure if he fails to be ready to face Fatah’s main rival, Hamas.
Meanwhile, the differences within Fatah are increasing. The Secretary of its Central Committee, Jibril Al-Rajoub failed last week to prevent the formation of different electoral lists for Fatah members and leaders.
Al-Akhbar said that Al-Rajoub had laid down a roadmap for the elections that meets that demands of Barghouti and Al-Qidwa, but falls far behind their vision in relation to fighting corruption and supporting Palestinian resistance against the occupation.
Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement on Monday welcomed the decree issued by Abbas to form an electoral court ahead of the general elections as "a positive step toward the right direction.”
"President Abbas is asked to carry out more practical measures to implement what the Palestinian factions has recently agreed upon in Egypt’s capital Cairo, mainly issues related to public freedom,” said the Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
"Establishing a status of confidence and safety among the Palestinians would encourage them to participate in the vote with no fear or pressure that would negatively affect the electoral process,” he added.
Abbas, also head of the ruling Fatah party, issued on Monday a presidential decree that orders the establishment of an electoral court to resolve the disputes between the Palestinian factions in the electoral process.
In the intra-Palestinian national dialogue that ended in Cairo earlier last month, leaders of 14 factions, including Hamas and Fatah, agreed to hold the general elections as scheduled.
Abbas is also the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Fatah movement.
Barghouti has been in an Israeli prison since 2002, while Al-Qidwa is a cousin of the late Yasser Arafat. According to senior Fatah sources, they have proposed a list to Abbas that includes young people and active Fatah members who have been effectively neutralized by Abbas due to their resistance against the Zionist regime’s occupation.
The Lebanese newspaper reported the sources as saying that they ruled out that Abbas could cancel the elections or postpone them due to regional and international pressure if he fails to be ready to face Fatah’s main rival, Hamas.
Meanwhile, the differences within Fatah are increasing. The Secretary of its Central Committee, Jibril Al-Rajoub failed last week to prevent the formation of different electoral lists for Fatah members and leaders.
Al-Akhbar said that Al-Rajoub had laid down a roadmap for the elections that meets that demands of Barghouti and Al-Qidwa, but falls far behind their vision in relation to fighting corruption and supporting Palestinian resistance against the occupation.
Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement on Monday welcomed the decree issued by Abbas to form an electoral court ahead of the general elections as "a positive step toward the right direction.”
"President Abbas is asked to carry out more practical measures to implement what the Palestinian factions has recently agreed upon in Egypt’s capital Cairo, mainly issues related to public freedom,” said the Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.
"Establishing a status of confidence and safety among the Palestinians would encourage them to participate in the vote with no fear or pressure that would negatively affect the electoral process,” he added.
Abbas, also head of the ruling Fatah party, issued on Monday a presidential decree that orders the establishment of an electoral court to resolve the disputes between the Palestinian factions in the electoral process.
In the intra-Palestinian national dialogue that ended in Cairo earlier last month, leaders of 14 factions, including Hamas and Fatah, agreed to hold the general elections as scheduled.