Abstract
The Palestinian presidential poll scheduled for January 9 to replace the late Yasser Arafat has been thrown open by the entry of the jailed Palestinian activist Marwan Barghouti and by Hamas's call for a boycott. The poll is now unlikely to produce predictable outcomes, unless the Palestinians unite behind either Barghouti or the other leading candidate, Mahmoud Abbas. These two men could have not provided the Palestinians with a more sharply contrasting choice. Although Abbas and Barghouti are not the only candidates, the race is now between these two. As a founding member of the leading nationalist Palestinian organisation under Arafat (Fatah), activist of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and strong advocate of a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian problem, Abbas has taken over Arafat's position as Fatah's head and is the group's declared candidate for the presidential election. He is also favoured by Israel and the US, which found him very amicable during his brief prime ministership when George Bush launched the now defunct Middle East "road map" for peace last year. While isolating Arafat and refusing to deal with him since mid-2002 on the basis of the accusation that he supported Palestinian "terrorism" against Israel, Bush and the right-wing Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, were happy to exalt Abbas as the Palestinian leader with whom they could deal.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 1pp |
| No. | December 8, 2004 |
| Specialist publication | The Sydney Morning Herald |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 |