Young leaders dominate Fatah vote

11 August 2009

Younger leaders have gained powerful posts in Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, early results from its first poll in 20 years show.
Mr Abbas remains the head, but several veterans apparently lost seats on the powerful central committee.
Popular jailed leader Marwan Barghouti, and influential Mohammad Dahlan, who is disliked by supporters of rival faction Hamas, were both set to gain seats.
Young members wanted to depose an "old guard" seen as divided and corrupt.
The party, which lost elections to Hamas in 2006, has been trying to restore its image as ineffective and dominated by cronyism.
Preliminary results from the vote during the congress in the West Bank town of Bethlehem showed new officials had gained 14 out of 18 seats on the powerful central committee.
Heather Sharp, BBC News, Jerusalem
Finally, the vote was held, after a long week, dogged by rows and factions' fears that their rivals had stacked the conference with sympathisers.
Palestinians may be heartened that Fatah got this far, and the sway of ageing exiles who do not share their daily struggles has been reduced.
But the so-called "new blood" are all established players in Palestinian politics, and still have a lot to prove if they are to convince voters they have left behind the days of corruption and infighting under Arafat.
While they broadly agree on a two-state solution, there are differences over Hamas. Mr Barghouti's supporters want to push harder for unity - and he remains in jail in any case - while Mr Dahlan is at the forefront of the feud.
Elections slated for 2010 will not happen without some kind of deal with Hamas. So for most Palestinians, a unified leadership with a popular mandate to fight their cause on the international stage remains as far off as ever.
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Less than half of the 10 members of the so-called "old guard", who were seeking re-election, managed to hold onto their seats on the central committee, the results showed.
The Fatah veteran Ahmed Qurei, who was the first Palestinian prime minister, was on course to lose his seat.
Saeb Erekat, a key negotiator with Israel, and Jibril Rajoub, who like Mr Dahlan has led one of the party's security forces, also gained posts on the committee, the partial results showed. source: bbc.com

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