Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ s Fatah party has relinquished its membership chief executive after announcing he will run on his own election list, in the latest sign of internal unrest ahead of his election. it was planned later this year.
Nasser al-Kidwa, the 67-year-old nephew of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, had announced that he would have made up his own list of independents, businessmen and youth. He is a former Palestinian foreign minister and a representative to the United Nations.
He had long been seen as a capable follower of the 85-year-old Abbas, and held talks with popular Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti about joining his roster.
Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for terrorism in the Second Intifada 2000-2005, eventually refused to support al-Kidwa.
On its own, al-Kidwa is only expected to get a few sets.
Abbas has agreed to hold primary and parliamentary elections in the coming months. They were the first general election since 2006, when the Islamic terrorist group Hamas won the landslide effect, partly due to divisions within Fatah. That put an end to a series of internal strife and clashes that culminated in the bloody capture of Hamas in Gaza the following year.
It is far from certain that the elections will take place. Fatah and Hamas have been divided hard since Hamas took over Gaza, and several attempts at a settlement have failed.
Abbas also has to contend with rivalries within Fatah that other former or former members could follow in al-Kidwa’s footsteps and launch their own lists. That would risk weakening Fatah’s support and becoming a means for another victory with Hamas.
Abbas’ s popularity has plummeted in recent years by failing to advance Palestinian hopes for statehood, or forging ties with Hamas.
There have been few peace talks with Israel in more than a decade, and the PA is widely seen as increasingly corrupt and undemocratic. Abbas, who was elected to a four-year term in 2005, has not named a replacement.