Fatah members attending an extraordinary party conference re-elected Mahmoud Abbas for a new five-year term as leader yesterday, the head of the Palestinian National Council Salim al-Zaanoun announced.
“The Central Committee unanimously recommended Mahmoud Abbas as leader for Fatah,” Al-Zaanoun was reported as saying by the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) official news agency Wafa.
Hailing Abbas’ re-election, Al-Zaanoun said: “President Abbas has the most credibility as he is the…hope [for Fatah].”
Palestinians re-elect Mahmoud Abbas to a new term as Fatah party leader https://t.co/SVjMqmVYCj pic.twitter.com/bou2uDLbPu
— Bloomberg (@business) November 30, 2016
Speaking to the Fatah members after he was re-elected, Abbas said: “This conference is writing a new chapter of Fatah’s history.”
Addressing the gathering, he continued: “You are currently living the present which is based in light of the past…You are laying the foundations for a stronger chapter of our pioneering movement and reinforcing the principles…of the movement.”
He added: “Fatah will remain victorious and nothing is able to stop it before it achieves its goals which are the liberation and independence of a sovereign state.”
My latest: After #Abbas, who does Israel want to lead the Palestinians? https://t.co/2JEB4IwtOg #Fatah
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) November 30, 2016
Amidst a chronic dispute among streams of Fatah leaders and the exclusion of many members who oppose Abbas’ policies, Fatah’s seventh conference concluded yesterday in the main West Bank city of Ramallah.
About 1,200 Fatah members arrived in Ramallah from the occupied Palestinian territories, including Gaza, Israel and abroad.
A Fatah spokesman said that there was a quorum of Fatah members at the conference, noting that new members of the Fatah Central Committee and Fatah Revolutionary Council would also be elected during the process of the conference.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
