Palestinian Fatah camps jockeying for post-Abbas leadership
With Palestinian elections supposedly in the works, the leadership struggle within Fatah is intensifying in the quest to lead the movement in the post-Abbas era.
The possibility of holding general elections in the Palestinian territories in 2020 has accelerated discussion within the ruling Fatah movement as to who will eventually replace President Mahmoud Abbas.
A Ramallah-based analyst who requested anonymity told Al-Monitor, “[Key Fatah leaders] are more interested in the succession issue than elections.” The source also asserted, however, “Fatah leaders realize that elections, should they take place, could be a strong indicator of which wing of Fatah is the strongest.”
Al-Monitor contacted various analysts, pundits, observers and Fatah activists to get a sense of the political map within Fatah, and based on their responses, it appears that two groups are likely to emerge as the major wings in the movement in the post-Abbas era.
Abbas himself appears to favor the group headed by deputy Fatah leader Mahmoud al-Aloul, a Central Committee member and former governor of Nablus, Palestine’s leading city and business center. The other group is led by Fatah secretary and former head of the Palestinian Preventative Security Maj. Gen. Jibril Rajoub, who is also a Central Committee member and head of the Palestinian Football Association.
