May. 10, 2005 1:30 | Updated May. 10, 2005 11:26
More Fatah leaders quit over elections
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

The ruling Fatah faction is having difficulty coming to terms with the gains made by Hamas in last week's local elections. Several Fatah leaders have submitted their resignations over the past few days, accepting responsibility for the defeat of their party in major cities like Kalkilya in the West Bank and Rafah, Beit Lahia and al-Bureij in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip on Monday appealed to Egypt to use its good offices to ease tensions between the Islamic movement and Fatah in the aftermath of the elections.

The Palestinian Authority has decided to postpone the announcement of the final results pending an investigation into allegations of irregularities and fraud.

At least seven Fatah leaders have quit since preliminary results published over the weekend showed that Hamas had won the elections in big cities. Muhammad Khalayleh, a senior Fatah official in the Hebron area, was the latest official to submit his resignation. The move came after Khalayleh's Fatah list won only five out of 13 seats on the Samou council village. The remaining seats went to Hamas candidates.

Khalayleh said the results of the elections reflected widespread resentment at corruption in the PA. "The people punished Fatah because of corruption, lawlessness and nepotism in the Palestinian leadership," he said.

Earlier, Fatah leaders in Hebron, Kalkilya, Rafah, al-Bureij, Bethlehem and Beit Lahia announced their resignations, citing their party's failure in the elections as the main reason. The resignations are seen as a blow to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the leader of Fatah.

All the Fatah officials who quit belong to the young guard in the party and have long been involved in a power struggle with representatives of the old guard who returned with Yasser Arafat from exile in 1994.

The young guard leaders have blamed the veteran officials for the defeat in the elections, saying their refusal to endorse reforms and combat corruption had driven away many supporters.

"We are now paying the price for the continued hegemony of the old guard leaders of Fatah," a young Fatah legislator told The Jerusalem Post. "These elections indicate that a growing number of people are unhappy with the way Fatah has been running their affairs." The Hamas victories in the Gaza Strip have stunned many Fatah operatives, who claim that Hamas activists used fraudulent methods to win the vote – an argument that has been vehemently denied by Hamas leaders.

In a sign of growing tensions between the two sides, Fatah gunmen have announced that they would use force to prevent Hamas nominees from taking over the municipalities of Rafah, Beit Lahia and al-Bureij. The gunmen have also raided the offices of the PA's Central Elections Committee in several areas in the Gaza Strip to protest the results.

Jamal Shobaki, chairman of the elections committee, announced on Monday that the final results were being held until a court looked into allegations of fraud and cheating during the vote. He said that an initial investigation had shown that there had been some "irregularities" in certain areas, but refused to elaborate.

Shobaki's announcement has worried Hamas leaders, who fear that Fatah will try to change the results of the elections in its favor by using the fraud allegations as an excuse. "Hamas has appealed to Egypt to interfere with Fatah to stop provocations against our members in the wake of the elections," said a Hamas official in Gaza City. He pointed out that Fatah gunmen in Beit Lahia had occupied the offices of the local municipality in an attempt to prevent Hamas from taking over.

"Many people in Fatah are refusing to accept the fact that they have lost. After failing at the ballot boxes, they are now trying to steal the vote by force."

Political analyst Talal Okal expressed astonishment at Fatah's allegations, noting that it was absurd that a ruling party should accuse the opposition of fixing the elections.

He also pointed out that the charges were made only with regards to three big cities in the Gaza Strip, where the PA has full security control. However, he added, Fatah did not make such charges about areas in the West Bank that are under Israeli security control.

"It is universally accepted that the opposition often accuses the regime of forgery during elections," Okal said. "But what is strange in our case is that the government is accusing the opposition of forgery. Apparently Fatah hasn't learned the lessons of its previous mistakes."