Fatah Election Results Reveal New Palestinian Power Structure as Barghouti and Faraj Lead
The eighth Fatah General Conference sees a 94% voter turnout across the Middle East, balancing veteran leaders, internal opposition, and a younger generation, as the party looks to capitalize on the recent elimination of top Hamas commander Izz al-Din Haddad.
Arab media outlets published the official results of the eighth Fatah General Conference elections, unveiling a reshuffled power dynamic within the Palestinian Authority’s ruling party. The internal vote determined the 18 elected members of the Fatah Central Committee, the movement’s highest decision-making body, which will be expanded later with three additional members appointed by the newly elected leadership.
According to data published by the Arabic news network Asharq News, the two biggest winners of the election are Marwan Barghouti, an imprisoned Palestinian figure serving multiple life sentences in Israel, and Majid Faraj, the head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service. Both secured the top two spots on the committee, with each garnering more than 1,800 votes.
Jibril Rajoub, a prominent Fatah official, secured the third-highest position with 1,609 votes. Analysts note that Rajoub’s strong performance demonstrates that the internal opposition to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas maintains significant influence and has not been sidelined from the leadership ranks.
Meanwhile, Hussein al-Sheikh, the secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a widely discussed potential successor to Abbas, saw a slight setback to his standing. Al-Sheikh finished in fourth place, receiving 1,570 votes. In contrast, Tawfik Tirawi, a senior official known as a vocal critic of the current PA leadership, achieved a strong showing by securing a high-ranking spot with 1,361 votes.
Key Admissions and Notable Shifts
The election results also featured the direct entry of Yasser Abbas, the son of President Mahmoud Abbas, into the top ten spots of the Central Committee. Former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, a close ally of the president, also secured a seat, rounding out the list of the 18 elected members.
Another notable inclusion is Zakaria Zubeidi, the former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades who was released from Israeli custody during a recent hostage-prisoner exchange deal with Hamas. Commentators suggest that the inclusion of Zubeidi and other younger figures reflects a deliberate effort within the conference to integrate a younger generation into the movement's aging leadership.
Record Turnout Amid Regional Shifts
The chairman of the Fatah conference committee reported a record turnout of approximately 94%. A total of 2,580 eligible voters participated in the internal democratic process, casting ballots for a limited number of candidates.
Voting took place simultaneously across four primary regional hubs in the Middle East including Ramallah, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Cairo.
The elections come at a critical juncture for Fatah, which has experienced a significant decline in public support in recent years relative to its rival, Hamas. Party leadership views this reorganization as a crucial opportunity to regain political dominance among the Palestinian public. This comes as Fatah aims to capitalize on the severe degradation of Hamas's infrastructure in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attacks, which was further compounded this past Saturday by the elimination of Izz al-Din Haddad, the last senior Hamas commander directly involved in the October 7 massacres.