Bethlehem (West Bank): Palestinian
president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction was electing new
leaders for the first time in 20 years on Monday, in the hope
they can invigorate a party weakened by internal rifts
and its rout from the Gaza Strip by its Hamas rivals.
Ballot counting that had been scheduled to start on
today morning was delayed to enable more Gaza member to call
in their votes and was expected to
start in the late afternoon or evening, officials said.
About 2,000 delegates cast their ballots at a party
congress in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the
first ever in Palestinian territory.
But dozens of Fatah members had to vote by telephone
as arch-rival Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip,
prevented them from leaving the Palestinian enclave to attend
the gathering.
Participants were anxiously awaiting the outcome of
the vote to renew the 21-member Central Committee and the
120-strong Revolutionary Council, the main governing bodies of
the party founded by iconic Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat in the late 1950s.
"I am convinced there will be changes within the
leadership and that the Palestinian people will feel this
change in the near future," said Abbas aide Nimmer Hammad.
"Fatah today is no longer fractured and weak," he
said of the once-dominant party that has been hit hard by
infighting and corruption allegations.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 10, 2009, 22:25