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Hamas Shows Poll Power: Militant Group Wins Key Local Elections in Blow to Ruling Fatah

Posted on: Saturday, 17 December 2005, 15:00 CST

By Joel Greenberg, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune

Dec. 17--JERUSALEM -- The militant Islamic group Hamas won local elections in three major cities in the West Bank, according to provisional results released Friday, dealing a heavy blow to the ruling Fatah party ahead of Palestinian parliamentary elections next month.

Fatah, which is led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has been plagued by internal discord and charges of corruption that have benefited Hamas, which has won grass-roots support through its welfare programs and reputation for honest community service.

Listed as a terrorist group by the United States, Hamas calls for the destruction of Israel and has killed scores of Israelis in suicide bombings, though it has scaled back its attacks this year.

The biggest Hamas victory was in Nablus, a commercial hub and the second-largest city in the West Bank. Preliminary results showed Hamas receiving about 70 percent of the vote, winning 13 of the 15 seats on the city council. The two remaining seats went to independent candidates backed by Fatah.

In Jenin, Hamas won eight seats, while the other seven went to a coalition of Fatah and the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

In El-Bireh, next to Ramallah, Hamas won nine seats, a coalition of Fatah and other factions won four, and two other seats went to independents.

Even in Ramallah, the Palestinian seat of government, Fatah did not gain a majority, winning six seats in a coalition with other factions. An independent list won six other seats, and the remaining three went to Hamas.

The poor showing by Fatah in Thursday's vote was widely attributed to deep divisions in the movement. Members of the so-called young guard broke away this week to run in a separate slate in the parliamentary election.

"We are extremely worried," said Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah official. He said Fatah voters were alienated by the leadership's failure to choose popular candidates and by outbursts of street violence by gunmen from the party's armed wing, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

Young leaders of Fatah, led by Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of the Palestinian uprising, have formed a separate list to run in the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections, accusing Abbas and the party's veteran leadership of putting cronies high on the Fatah slate, ignoring results of primaries won by members of the young guard.

The new slate, called The Future, includes younger Fatah leaders who fought Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and served time in Israeli jails, among them Mohammed Dahlan, a Cabinet minister who is a powerful figure in the Gaza Strip, and Jibril Rajoub, Abbas' security adviser, who is influential in the West Bank.

jogreenberg@tribune.com

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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