Fatah agrees to ally with other 5 factions

Ramallah, March 1 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party has agreed to ally with other five factions to contest in the upcoming general elections, according to a senior official.

"Five factions have officially informed us that they are ready to ally with Fatah to contest in the elections in a unified list," Azzam al-Ahmad, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, told reporters here on Sunday.

Al-Ahmad said the five factions are the Palestinian Democratic Union, the Palestinian Liberation Front, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, the Arab Liberation Front and The Palestinian Arab Front, reports Xinhua news agency.

Although Fatah is prepared to ally with all Palestinian factions and independent personalities, no agreement or details were discussed with the Islamic Hamas movement to be included, the official added.

Meanwhile, Farid Toamallah, a spokesperson of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission, said it was waiting for a presidential decree to establish the elections court.

Tohmallah stressed the importance of establishing the elections court, considering it the only institution that receives appeals of any defect in the electoral process.

In January, President Abbas announced that the 2021 general elections will include legislative elections on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and the Palestinian National Council elections on August 31.

The last presidential elections were held in March 2005, and the legislative polls in January 2006.

The internal Palestinian division between Hamas and Fatah began in 2007 when former forcibly took over the Gaza Strip from the latter.

Since then, the Palestinian territories have been split into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-dominated West Bank.

 

( With inputs from IANS )