|
|
INDEPTH: MIDDLE EAST
Palestinian Election: The Candidates
CBC News Online | January 6, 2005
THE CANDIDATES:
Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah)
Mahmoud Abbas, in a file photo
|
Also known as Abu Mazen. Abbas succeeded Yasser Arafat as PLO
leader after his death on Nov. 11, 2004.
The PLO's political faction - Fatah - has backed Abbas as its
candidate.
He is a former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.
Abbas stepped down on Sept. 7, 2003, after less than five months
in the position.
Many Palestinians and Israelis viewed him as a moderate, someone
who may have been able to bridge the rift of violence separating
the two enemies. But Abbas and Arafat clashed often - Arafat
attempted to take away any real power from the role of prime
minister.
INDEPTH: Mahmoud
Abbas
Most of Abbas's term as prime minister was peppered by conflicts
with Arafat over the distribution of power between the two.
He was also in conflict with hardline groups like Hamas and
Islamic Jihad.
The 69-year-old Abbas is one of a handful of the surviving
founders of Fatah. He has stated that he is opposed to violence
as a way of resolving the conflict between Israel and the
Palestinians. He has echoed that theme during the campaign.
Mustafa Barghouthi (Independent)
Mustafa Barghouthi is a medical doctor and distant cousin
to Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian activist serving five life
terms in an Israeli prison, who pulled out of the presidential
campaign. He is secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative,
a grassroots movement he helped found in 2002. The PNI claims
to represent the silent majority of reform-minded Palestinians,
the rights of Palestinian refugees, and a Palestinian independent
state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Barghouthi organized and led many popular and peaceful demonstrations
and marches during both the intefadehs. He has called for
popular mass non-violent struggle as a means of resolving
the conflict with Israel.
He has been a consistent critic of the PLO old guard for years
and has promised to clean up corruption in the Palestinian
Authority.
Barghouthi has been endorsed by the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, a militant left-wing group that boycotted
the 1996 election.
Bassam al-Salhi (Palestine People's Party)
Bassam al-Salhi was born in the Al-Am'ari refugee camp in
1960 and currently lives in the city of Al-Bireh-Ramallah.
He is the leader of the Palestine People's Party, a small
PLO faction with communist roots.
The PPP was founded in 1947 as the National Liberation League
and later became the Palestine Communist Party.
Al-Salhi was a student activist in the mid-1970s. He was chairman
of the Student Council at Birzeit University from 1979 to
1981, and led the student movement opposed to the Camp David
Accords.
He was arrested and jailed by Israeli authorities several
times in the 1980s and '90s for his role in the Palestinian
resistance.
Tayssir Khaled (Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine)
Tayssir Khaled was born in Nablus on Jan. 19, 1941.
He worked in the news department of Kuwait Radio from 1960-63
then went to Germany to complete his education.
He studied political science, history and international law
in Germany. In the mid-1960s, he became a leading member of
the Socialist Student Union in Germany. In 1969, he joined
the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was
also a co-founder of the German Communist League.
The DFLP is a Marxist-Leninist group that split from the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 1969. Among the organization's
goals are revolutionary change in the Arab world, and solidarity
with all national liberation movements that fight against
imperialism and racism
In 1991, Khaled was elected to the PLO Executive Committee,
but he quit two years later to protest against the Oslo Accords,
negotiated between the PLO and Israel.
Khaled was among nine PLO executive committee members who
signed a statement rejecting the Oslo II agreement on Oct.
4, 1995.
Abdel Halim al-Ashqar (Independent)
Abdel Halim al-Ashqar hasn't been too active on the campaign
front. He is under house arrest in the United States, awaiting
trial on racketeering and obstruction charges.
The Americans consider him a terrorist who worked for Hamas. If he's
convicted, he could get life in prison.
Al-Ashqar hopes his legal problems will translate into votes among people
who are dissatisfied with attempts to moderate the Palestinian leadership.
Ashqar denies that he is a member of Hamas member and says the case against him
is politically motivated. He notes Hamas is boycotting the vote, while he is
actively participating in it.
The 46-year-old former university professor has not been to the West Bank or Gaza
Strip since 1989, when he first went to the United States. He's been trying to
go back for years, but his legal troubles have gotten in the way.
Other candidates:
- Abdel Karim Shbier (Independent). Shbier is 46
years old and holds a PhD in international law.
- Alsaied Barakah (Independent).
^TOP
|
|
 |
 MENU |
|
|
| MORE: |
|
|
|
|
