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Abbas Wins Elections, Bush Ready to Help
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“We offer this victory to the soul of the brother martyr Yasser Arafat and to all Palestinians,” said Abbas
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RAMALLAH,
January 10 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Mahmoud Abbas was
formally declared the new Palestinian president Monday, January 10,
after a clear election victory, according to official results.
Abbas,
the candidate of the mainstream Fatah movement, garnered 62.3 percent of
votes cast winning 66.7% of the West Bank's votes and 65% of the Gaza
Strip's, said the Palestinian Central Elections Commission.
His
nearest rival Mustafa Al-Barghouthi won 19.8 percent, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
“We
offer this victory to the soul of the brother martyr Yasser Arafat and
to all Palestinians,” Abbas said in his victory speech.
“This
means that Abu Mazen has the mandate to implement his program,” said
victorious campaign manager Mohammed Shtayeh, using Abbas's nickname.
Abbas
has pledged to remain committed to the key positions of late president
Yasser Arafat with a strong opposition to the militarization of the
four-year-old second Intifada.
Five
other presidential candidates, ranging from a Marxist candidate to an
academic under US house arrest, trailed far behind.
Palestinian
election officials extended polling in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and
Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) by two hours because some voters were
being held up by Israeli checkpoints in the territories occupied since
the 1967 Middle East war.
Hamas
Respects Results
Turnout
looked healthy despite a boycott by the main resistance groups Hamas and
the Islamic Jihad.
The
elections commission said around 70 percent of the 1.2 million
registered voters had cast their ballots on Sunday.
Hamas
said it respects the results of the elections, but cast doubts on
Abbas’ popularity.
“We
respect the choice of the Palestinian people but for (Abbas) to get 70
percent of the votes of the eligible voters means he got the support of
some 35 percent of the Palestinians. This is very weak,” Sheikh Hassan
Youssef, a Hamas leader, told Reuters.
Mahmoud
Zahar, another Hamas leader, told AFP his movement would be
“constructive, not destructive.”
Following
a series of political maneuvers, Hamas decided last month to boycott the
election.
It
said on December 22 it would neither support any of the seven hopefuls
nor name a candidate, charging the vote has been “tailored” for
Abbas.
The
movement’s longstanding position, however, is the insistence on
holding general elections across the occupied Palestinian territories,
encompassing presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections.
Helpful
Bush
US
President George W. Bush hailed the vote as an historic day for the
Palestinian people.
“Palestinians
throughout the West Bank and Gaza took a key step toward building a
democratic future by choosing a new president in elections that
observers describe as largely free and fair,” he said in a statement.
Bush
said the United States stands ready to help the new president as he
faces up to critical post-election challenges.
“The
United States stands ready to help the Palestinian people realize their
aspirations," he added.
Abbas
is under pressure at home and abroad to enact reforms to end widespread
corruption and revive a Palestinian Authority whose structures crumbled
over the past few years.
Bush
said the vote and parliamentary elections that will follow in several
months “are essential for the establishment of a sovereign,
independent, viable, democratic, and peaceful Palestinian state that can
live alongside a safe and secure Israel.”
Earlier
on Sunday, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Israel, as an initial
confidence-building measure, to release more Palestinian prisoners as
part of a post-election push to revive peace talks with Israel.
“The
United States is standing ready to do a lot more,” Powell said.
He
said Bush should consider sending an envoy to the region “if we see
the kind of progress that is possible in the next weeks or months.”
Condoleezza
Rice, Bush's nominee to replace Powell, is expected to visit Europe soon
after her Senate confirmation to help coordinate Middle East peace
efforts, officials said.
She
is also considering making a trip early in the year to meet with Israeli
and Palestinian leaders in the region, said sources close to the
discussions.
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