[Al Arabiya Latest] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received firm endorsement from his Fatah party on Saturday to remain its leader in an impromptu vote as the secular Palestinian party's first congress in 20 years entered its fifth day amid disputes on how to revive its authority. Voting was initially scheduled for Friday but was postponed by a day because of the large number of party members registering as candidates.Abbas received the approval in a show of hands from the vast majority of Fatah's 2,300 delegates participating in the movement's first congress for 20 years and the first on Palestinian soil. Abbas succeeded the late Fatah founding father Yasser Arafat who led the movement for 40 years until his death in 2004.
Fatah is seeking to throw off a reputation for corruption and cronyism that led in 2006 to an election loss to Islamist rival Hamas which opposes peace talks with Israel.
The conference, which started on Tuesday and had been due to last three days, was extended after bitter arguments between the old guard and young delegates seeking a stronger role and broad reform.
"The consensus candidate"
" At the end of the congress, Fatah will have new leadership where the young generation will play a key role "Nabil Shaath, Fatah |
Among those seen as leading candidates are Marwan Barghuthi, the party's West Bank secretary-general who is held in an Israeli prison, former preventive security chief Jibril Rajub and Mohammed Dahlan, once Fatah's strongman in the Gaza Strip.
Marwan's in jug, Jibril's most notable accomplishment was having Yasser pull a gun on him, and Hamas uses Dahlan to keep their kiddies in line, the boogeyman being un-Islamic.
There are strong hopes among the 2,000 delegates that some of the old guard often accused of corruption will make way for younger members of the party founded by iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the late 1950s. "At the end of the congress, Fatah will have new leadership where the young generation will play a key role," prominent Fatah member Nabil Shaath wrote in the congress's Website. "This will reinvigorate the movement and strengthen its legitimacy."