CIAO DATE: 05/06

Fatah Primary Results: Lessons from the First Round

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

By Mohammed Yaghi and Ben Fishman

Peace Watch #528
November 29, 2005

Abstract

In preparation for January elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Fatah, the mainstream Palestinian faction that dominates the current council, held its first ever primaries on November 25.

Though flaws in the primary balloting highlighted Fatah’s broader organizational and political difficulties, the results from the initial rounds represent a major victory for Fatah’s “young guard” leadership headed by the imprisoned Marwan Barghouti. As imperfect and incomplete as the primaries have been, the first round of voting validates the popularity of Fatah’s younger generation, which has been struggling for years to wrest control of the movement from the “old guard” that dominates Fatah’s Central Committee and its other governing institutions.

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