December 17, 2005

Palestinian officials urge Abbas to delay election

By Wafa Amr

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian officials are pressuring President Mahmoud Abbas to delay a January election due to a split in his ruling Fatah faction that is strengthening its Hamas rival, officials said on Saturday.

Lawmakers and senior members of Abbas's Fatah faction fear that violence may erupt if the rift within Fatah is not healed before the Jan. 25 election in which Fatah will be challenged for the first time by the militant Islamic group Hamas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends Friday prayers in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 16, 2005. (REUTERS/Loay Abu Haykel)

"I call for delaying the election because of the deadlock in the peace process with the Israeli side and the state of chaos which Fatah is responsible for and the recent rift within Fatah," said lawmaker and senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad.

He told Reuters that "Abbas must put his internal house in order" before elections are held.

The split in Fatah, in which some of its most popular younger leaders plan to run against the faction in the January ballot, has strengthened Hamas. It won in three out of four West Bank cities in the latest round of local elections on Thursday.

Rafiq Husseini, Abbas' chief of staff, said the Palestinian president was determined to hold the election as scheduled.

"President Abbas has come under pressure for some time and is under pressure now to delay the elections," he said. "But he keeps reiterating his determination to hold the vote on time."

Hamas, eager to reap the benefits of the disarray in Fatah, has demanded that the election be held on time.

Western and Arab diplomats said the January polls were a critical test of Abbas' performance as a leader and a sign of his ability to convince Israel he was a peace partner.

HAMAS CHALLENGES FATAH

Several independent candidates said they had advised Abbas to delay the election or face the prospect of anarchy and violence on election day.

Last week, Palestinian gunmen from two rival groups within Fatah engaged in a gun battle in the Gaza Strip after gunmen took over the main Fatah headquarters in Gaza City to demand jobs for Fatah militants.

Abbas was dealt a heavy blow earlier this week when young guard Fatah leaders refused to accept Abbas' choice of candidates for parliament and formed their own list led by jailed Fatah firebrand Marwan al-Barghouthi.

They believe their list will perform better against Hamas as it excludes several members of the old guard who are tainted with corruption.

Hamas has grown in popularity over its corruption-free reputation, extensive charity network and its role in spear heading suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Israel.

"Hamas' victory is a shame for Fatah old guards who have chosen some corrupt and incompetent candidates. If we allow them to continue to run things this way, Fatah will also lose in parliamentary elections," a Gaza-based Fatah local leader said.

Israel has said that if Hamas achieved political dominance it would spell an end to all hopes for peace talks because the group is sworn to destroying the Jewish state.

Abbas must walk a tightrope of restoring unity within Fatah while complying with the United States' demands to reign in militants and stop militant rocket fire into Israel.

Abbas aides have visited Barghouthi in his prison cell to negotiate a resolution to the crisis. Representatives from both sides would meet on Saturday, Fatah officials said.

"The way out would be for president Abbas to declare that the two lists would run and that both represent Fatah. He would then call on Fatah members to vote for either one of the lists," said Qadoura Fares, a Fatah official on Barghouthi's list.

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