Mahmoud Abbas Pledges Palestinian Authority Reforms And Elections As Fatah Elects Central Committee In Ramallah

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to press ahead with reforms within the Palestinian Authority and said he was prepared to hold long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections as Fatah began a three-day conference to elect a new central committee for the first time in 10 years.

Abbas said, "We renew our full commitment to continuing work on implementing all the reform measures we pledged," and he also vowed fresh elections without providing a timeline.

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The conference is being held in Ramallah, and Abbas was unanimously re-elected as leader of the Fatah movement late on Thursday, ensuring he would continue serving as head of the party’s central committee.

Jibril Rajoub, the current secretary general of the committee, told AFP ahead of the congress that the Palestinian national movement faces some of its "most serious challenges in our struggle" as the conference was repeatedly delayed.

The conference is attended by approximately 2,580 Fatah members, with 18 representatives expected to be elected to the central committee and 80 to the movement’s parliament, known as the revolutionary council.

Abbas and the Palestinian Authority are under mounting pressure from the United States, the European Union and Arab states to implement reforms and hold elections, amid widespread accusations of corruption and political stagnation and the body’s declining legitimacy among Palestinians.

Rajoub said the conference, repeatedly delayed, would contribute to "ensuring and protecting the establishment of a Palestinian state on the world’s agenda" and protecting the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

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Despite repeated declarations that it is working as a "united front," major figures were absent from Thursday’s conference, notably Nasser al-Qudwa, who boycotted the gathering.

Al-Qudwa said, "This conference is illegitimate, and this leadership that has usurped power is illegitimate and its time is up," and he is described as a nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The president’s eldest son, Yasser Abbas, is on the ballot to join the central committee after being named the president’s special representative despite largely residing in Canada.

The conference is framed as a step toward succession, with Fatah’s central committee expected to play a key role in the post-Abbas era as many observers wonder whether he might finally step down after more than two decades at the helm.

Hani al-Masri, director of the Palestinian Centre for Policy Research and Strategic Studies (Masarat), told AFP that Fatah now merely uses the PLO to provide itself with legitimacy, "a legitimacy that is eroding in the absence of a unified national project, elections and national consensus".

Fatah has historically been the main component of the PLO, which includes most Palestinian factions but excludes Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and the movement’s popularity and influence have dwindled amid internal divisions and public frustration over the stagnation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The conference also comes as the PA is touted abroad as a natural partner in rebuilding and running the Gaza Strip after Israel’s devastating war with Hamas there, though Israel strongly objects to the idea.

In Ramallah, the gathering is expected to elect 18 representatives to the central committee and 80 to the movement’s parliament, known as the revolutionary council, with attendance spread across Gaza, Cairo and Beirut in addition to the majority in Ramallah.