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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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 Sun Jan 09, 2005 4:25 pm Palistinian Leader Chosen |
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A big day for the Mid-East region...
| FOX NEWS wrote: | Exit Polls: Abbas Wins 66 Percent of Vote
Sunday, January 09, 2005
RAMALLAH, West Bank � Early results showed the moderate candidate Mahmoud Abbas (search) overwhelmingly winning the Palestinian presidential election Sunday with 66 percent of the vote, an exit poll said.
Such a margin of victory would give the 69-year-old Abbas, popularly known as Abu Mazen, a clear mandate to renew peace talks with Israel (search), rein in militants and reform the corruption-riddled Palestinian Authority (search).
Abbas' main challenger, Mustafa Barghouti, won 19.7 percent of the vote, according to the exit poll conducted by the independent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
The poll was based on responses from about 10,000 voters, with an error margin of 3 percentage points.
Palestinians hoped Sunday's presidential election, their first in nine years, would revitalize the Middle East peace process in the wake of longtime leader Yasser Arafat's death on Nov. 11.
"This percentage means that Abu Mazen will have the legitimacy to negotiate with the Israelis, and the Palestinian people will accept what Abu Mazen will agree on. He has a mandate from the voters," said the Palestinian policy center's director, Khalil Shekaki.
The initial results came after the Central Election Commission decided to keep polls open for an additional two hours, until 9 p.m. (1900 GMT), citing logistical problems.
Voting went relatively smoothly for the estimated 1.8 million Palestinians eligible to cast ballots.
However, the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, which has been funding Palestinian militants to disrupt a possible Israeli-Palestinian truce, carried out an attack on the border with Israel on Sunday. A French U.N. observer, an Israeli army officer and a Hezbollah fighter were killed in the incident.
In the West Bank, five gunmen burst into an election office, firing into the air and complaining that the names of their relatives had been left off registration lists. In Jerusalem, there was some confusion over voter lists that was eventually resolved, with the help of international observers.
Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian elections can be a model for the Arab world, noting that seven candidates competed. "This is a message to President Bush, to the rest of the world, that the problem we have here is not the kind of system we have, it's not reform, it's the Israeli occupation," Erekat said.
Bush has said a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must be accompanied by sweeping Palestinian government reform. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking on CNN, praised the vote as a "moment of opportunity for both sides."
Visiting U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who challenged Bush in the 2004 U.S. election, met with candidates in the West Bank. "We're here because we have very, very high hopes for an election that can help move the peace process forward," he said.
The Palestinian election came a day before Israel's parliament was to approve a new, more moderate coalition, seen as a boost for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in the summer.
In the new alliance, Sharon will govern side-by-side with elder statesman Shimon Peres, leader of the moderate Labor Party, and an architect of interim peace deals with the Palestinians. Hardliners had quit the coalition last year, in protest against the planned withdrawal.
Sharon plans to meet with Abbas after the election, said Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin.
"I think this vote shows a change in the Palestinian street because Abu Mazen's positions are known, his opposition to the armed uprising and the damage it has done to the Palestinian cause," Gissin said.
"We certainly welcome this and hope that from this mandate Abu Mazen will lead the Palestinian people on the path of reconciliation."
Israel is offering to release Palestinian prisoners if Abbas can halt rocket attacks on Israeli communities, one Israeli official said on condition of anonymity. Israel holds an estimated 7,000 Palestinian prisoners. It released 159 prisoners last month, but Palestinians dismissed the gesture as insufficient.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) across the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Voters were slow to arrive, and by noon only about 30 percent had cast ballots. Later in the day, election officials simplified procedures, allowing voters to cast ballots in any of more than 1,000 locations, rather than where they registered.
This enabled thousands of members of the Palestinian security services -- likely Abbas supporters -- to cast ballots where they serve, rather than having to travel to their hometowns.
Police officer Mohammed Juma was one of the first voters at the Jalil school in Gaza City. He turned his pistol before casting his vote for Abbas. "I believe he is the only one capable of taking us to the safe side of this ocean of conflict," he said.
Abbas, accompanied by his family, voted at Arafat's former headquarters in Ramallah. "The election is going well and that indicates that the Palestinian people are heading toward democracy," he said.
Abbas has said his main goal is the same as Arafat's: an end to Israeli occupation and a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Abbas faces a difficult balancing act. He is likely to encounter resistance from militants intent on continuing attacks on Israel. On the other hand, he is under heavy pressure from Israel to crack down on the militants.
"After the elections, we want to see ... a strategic decision to fight the terror and incitement," Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio.
Abbas has so far resisted calls for a crackdown. Instead, he hopes to persuade militants to halt their attacks on Israel.
Zakariye Zubeidi, a senior gunman from a refugee camp in the West Bank town of Jenin, showed up with 15 armed militants from the pro-Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades to vote at a school. "I voted for Abu Mazen," he said.
Abbas must also deal with the Islamic militant group Hamas, the largest opposition group, which boycotted Sunday's election.
The Israeli army eased travel restrictions and took other measures in Palestinian areas to facilitate Sunday's election.
Hundreds of international observers from Europe, Japan and the United States were also on hand, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former French premier Michel Rocard.
In Jerusalem, Palestinians and international observers complained of confusion over registration lists, and Palestinians accused Israel of trying to intimidate them.
By prior agreement with Israel, only about 5,000 of 120,000 eligible voters in Jerusalem were permitted to vote in post offices in the city. The others had to go to city suburbs to cast ballots.
At the main polling station in Jerusalem, vans hired by Fatah transported voters to the outlying polling stations.
"I would have loved to vote inside Jerusalem in freedom and without any fears," said Asma Shiyoukhi, a resident of Jerusalem's old city who traveled to the suburb of Za'in to vote.
Jerusalem is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and both peoples claim it as their capital. Many Palestinians in the holy city said they would refrain from voting out of fear of jeopardizing their fragile status under Israeli rule.
Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco ordered a heavy police presence in Arab neighborhoods, concerned that Jewish extremists would try to disrupt the vote.
Police said they broke up three small demonstrations of Israeli right-wing activists who tried to march on polling stations.
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This is good news for the region, I would hope, but I don't know much about this guy...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Sun Jan 09, 2005 7:53 pm |
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Lets sit it out a few weeks.
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Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will. -Michael Moore
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Defiant
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 04 Jul 2001
Posts: 15946
Location: Oregon City, OR
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| Sun Jan 09, 2005 9:34 pm |
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This is good news. I only hope he has an open mind to ending the hostilities.
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borgslayer
Rear Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 2646
Location: Las Vegas
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| Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:57 pm |
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Some palestinian mostly "Hamas, and Militant Supporters" call him corrupt. Because obviously these guys don't want peace unless they get a terroristic dictatorship country.
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