Palestinians postpone first-ever Fatah party primaries

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/647235.html

Last update - 05:11 19/11/2005


Palestinians postpone first-ever Fatah party primaries

By Haaretz Service and AP

RAMALLAH - The Palestinians' ruling Fatah party postponed its first ever primaries, which had been scheduled to start Friday, saying it was unprepared to run the poll and citing internal dissent and extortion attempts by violent activists.
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Primaries were expected to be held in some West Bank areas on Friday, but were hastily postponed.

Diek said part of the problem was that local armed Fatah groups were threatening to disrupt the polls unless they were paid off with plum civil service jobs.

"Some of them are trying to blackmail the Fatah leadership, demanding Palestinian Authority jobs in return for allowing elections to be held," he said. "Others have reservations about the way Fatah is organizing elections."
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1. Fatah holds first primaries ahead of January poll

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25108612.htm
25 Nov 2005 13:30:49 GMT

Source: Reuters

By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Fatah, the largest Palestinian faction, held its first primary election on Friday but polls remained shut in parts of the West Bank and in Gaza in what officials called a sign of internal divisions.

Although dozens of polling stations opened in the West Bank, the voting to choose Fatah candidates for a January Palestinian parliamentary election was delayed in Hebron, Tulkarm and East Jerusalem as well as in the Gaza Strip.

Organisers said that primary elections in these areas would be held some time next week but some Fatah officials feared that the vote may be postponed indefinitely.

President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah is widely expected to face a strong challenge in the January ballot from the militant Islamic group Hamas, which is running for the first time in a legislative election.
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