Mahmoud Abbas Re-Elected to 5-Year Term as Fatah Leader
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Mahmoud Abbas was re-elected as president of the Fatah party at the opening of its first congress in seven years on Tuesday as the 81-year-old Palestinian leader seeks to fend off opponents.
He stood unopposed for the post in a vote that was largely a formality.
The election of members of Fatah's parliament and its central committee will begin on Friday, signaling the direction the oldest Palestinian party will take at a time when Abbas is weakened by his own unpopularity and internal dissent.
Following his re-election Abbas will give an address on Tuesday evening. Some 1,400 delegates are expected.
While the ageing leader has said he has no intention of stepping aside anytime soon, talk of who will eventually succeed him as Palestinian president has intensified. He has not publicly designated a successor.
Some analysts see the congress as an attempt by Abbas to marginalize political opponents, including longtime rival Mohammed Dahlan, currently in exile in the United Arab Emirates.
Jibril Rajoub, a former intelligence chief, current head of the Palestinian Football Association and Fatah central committee member, said it will also provide an opportunity to update the party's structures.
"The system from the 1960s no longer works in 2016," he told AFP.
"We have to take into account the current circumstances. The current system was created when we were in the diaspora and we are now on national soil. It was put in place at a revolutionary stage. Now we have a state."