Fatah confirms supporting Abbas

Fatah Central Committee allocated its members, this week, on various provinces to deliver speeches to Fatah supporters in festivities held to commemorate their forty seventh anniversary. The speeches of all Fatah members discussed the forthcoming elections as the main topic. Fatah leaders confirmed that the elections will be held this year, and that all Fatah members should unite before the electoral battle, and not fall victim to internal conflict as in the previous elections, where Hamas ended up winning by more than half of the parliamentary seats. All members of the committee had another message to deliver through their speech, one they deeply emphasized, that is Mahmoud Abbas is the only presidential candidate supported by Fatah, despite his repetitive negation. “There will be presidential, legislative and parliamentary elections. We insist that presidency remains ours, and we hold on to Mahmoud Abbas as president,” said Mahmoud Alloul in a statement.   Members in the Central Committee stated that Fatah will not hold internal elections to choose their candidates for the next elections, explaining that the committee took such decision to avoid any conflict or negative manifestations that have appeared in the last elections, leading to the rise of inept candidates. The Palestinian electoral law determines 18 to be the official age for voting, and the elections commission is working on adding new voters to its register on regular basis. An internal dispute broke out among Fatah and Hamas members over the date of the elections. Hamas leaders believe that the scheduled date is unrealistic, as they need more time for the movement to campaign and work in the West Bank, following four years of being prohibited to do so. Same thing applies for Fatah, which was not allowed to do any work in the Gaza Strip. However, some members in both parties are pushing for the elections to be held as scheduled or sooner. Among those who are pro holding the elections in time is President Abbas. Observers believe that this period is perfect for Abbas to lead Fatah to a notable electoral victory, due to his wide popularity since he addressed UN, last September, demanding the Palestinian membership to the organization. Various polls of public opinion indicated that Abbas would easily win the upcoming elections, however, the president expressed, on several occasions, his refusal to run for elections, and requested from the Central Committee to find another presidential candidate. Officials close to Abbas split into two groups; one believes that he plans to step down from presidency while still on top; the other believes that he plans to continue. Financial burdens on the authorities are expected to increase in the post-elections period, as the employees of the current outgoing Gaza government will be added to it, where the number of employees in the Palestinian authorities’ government is 160000, and the number of employees in the Gaza outgoing government is 40000.