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 | | From: | AP | | Subject: | Abbas Wins Palestinian Vote in Landslide | | Date: | Mon, 10 Jan 2005 9:50:20 EST |
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*Associated Press/AP Online
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian
Authority president by a landslide, results showed Monday, giving
the pragmatist a mandate to resume peace talks with Israel - but
also leaving him with the tough task of reining in powerful armed
groups.
Israeli leaders welcomed Abbas' victory, but said they will
watch closely how hard he tries to subdue militants. Abbas could
easily lose his political capital over a major bombing or shooting
attack, and while most militant groups signaled they are willing to
give him a chance, not all have signed on to a truce with Israel.
Still, Abbas' victory held out the promise of a new era
after four decades of chaotic and corruption-riddled rule by Yasser
Arafat, who died Nov. 11. Abbas, who has spoken out against violence
and has the support of the international community, promises to
reform the government and the unwieldy security services.
Many Palestinians had high expectations of Abbas, widely
known as Abu Mazen. "Today is the beginning of a new
future," said Sami Radwan, 55, a restaurant owner in Gaza City.
"Abu Mazen is the right choice. He is the one who can bring us
peace, good business and security."
Abbas won 62.3 percent of the vote, the Central Election
Commission said. His main challenger, independent candidate Mustafa
Barghouti, won about 20 percent. The remaining five candidates
scored in low single digits.
In his acceptance speech, Abbas said he faces a difficult
mission, but he reiterated that he would not go after militants.
Instead, he said, he wants to "give our fugitives a life of
dignity," referring to those wanted by Israel.
"I present this victory to the soul of Yasser Arafat
and present it to our people and to our martyrs," Abbas added.
After exit polls predicted a sweeping Abbas victory,
cheering supporters took to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza
late Sunday. Gunmen fired in the air, motorists honked horns and
members of Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, wearing checkered
black-and-white headbands, danced in the streets.
The Islamic militant group Hamas, the largest opposition
group, announced Monday it will work with Abbas, despite misgivings
about what it said were voting irregularities, including a decision
to keep polls open two hours longer than planned. Hamas had called
for a boycott of the election, but did not try to disrupt the vote.
A U.S. observer team headed by Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a
Democrat from Delaware, and John Sununu, a Republican from New
Hampshire, said in a statement that the Palestinians "have
conducted a clean, open and fair election, largely unimpeded and
without interference."
In Washington, President Bush called the election a
"historic" step toward a Palestinian state.
"The United States stands ready to help the Palestinian
people realize their aspirations," Bush said. "The new
Palestinian president and his Cabinet face critical tasks ahead,
including fighting terrorism, combatting corruption, building
reformed and democratic institutions and reviving the Palestinian
economy."
It wasn't clear how many people voted.
Officials said close to 70 percent of 1.1 million registered
voters cast ballots. But because elections officials opened up the
polls to all Palestinians above age 18 in the middle of the day on
Sunday, about 660,000 others could have voted; officials hadn't yet
said how many did.
David Pearce, the U.S. consul in Jerusalem, said he was
struck by the civic pride of the voters and their new sense of hope.
"There are immense challenges. A million things can go wrong.
But for the first time in a long time, there is a chance that
something can go right," Pearce said.
In Israel, a new, more dovish coalition was to be approved
by parliament Monday, another step toward a planned withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip and four small West Bank settlements in the summer.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new coalition partners, the
moderate Labor Party and a small ultra-Orthodox faction, ensure a
parliamentary majority for the pullback, despite fervent opposition
from hardliners.
Labor leader Shimon Peres praised Abbas as a wise leader,
and expressed hope that peace talks could resume with new Israeli
and Palestinian governments. "If he (Abbas) makes a maximum
effort to fight terror, in my view this is good enough to return to
negotiations," Peres told Israel Radio on Monday.
Peres congratulated Abbas in a telephone call and told the
Palestinian leader he would do everything he could to help, said an
official close to Peres.
Ehud Olmert, the Israeli vice premier, said Abbas needs to
take immediate action against militants. "Will he fight against
the terrorists? Will he try to stop this bloody, violent war against
the state of Israel? This is the main question," Olmert told
CNN.
Sharon plans to meet with Abbas soon, the Israeli leader's
aides said.
Most Palestinian militant groups have indicated they are
willing to halt attacks against Israel. The Islamic Hamas, which
called for an election boycott, did not try to disrupt the vote, and
local militant leaders demonstrated their support for Abbas.
However, Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, who fund some
Palestinian militants, are trying to sabotage a possible truce,
according to people close to the group. On Sunday, Hezbollah carried
out a cross-border attack, setting off an exchange that resulted in
the deaths of an Israeli soldier, a French U.N. observer and a
Hezbollah fighter.
Abbas' victory capped a peaceful transition after Arafat's
death. However, Abbas' goals are the same as Arafat's: a Palestinian
state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, and a
solution for Palestinian war refugees.
"There is a difficult mission ahead to build our state,
to achieve security for our people ... to give our prisoners
freedom, our fugitives a life in dignity, to reach our goal of an
independent state," he said after declaring victory.
The Central Election Commission changed voting procedures
midway through the election, keeping polling stations open an
additional two hours and allowing voters to cast their ballots at
any location, not just in their hometowns
One election official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said the changes came after heavy pressure from Fatah, which feared
a low turnout could weaken Abbas.
The election, the first presidential vote in nine years,
proceeded largely without interruption. In one incident, gunmen
fired in the air in an election office and in Jerusalem, voters
complained of confusing arrangements.
Palestinian Cabinet ministers said Abbas won a strong
mandate. "The Palestinian people have transmitted a message of
peace to Israel and to the international community," said
minister Ghassan Khatib.
Many gunmen followed rules barring weapons in voting
stations, but in a sign of the difficulty the new president will
face in controlling them, Zakariye Zubeidi, a militant leader,
refused to give up his M-16 assault rifle when he walked into a
polling station in the West Bank town of Jenin.
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 - a city both sides claim as their
capital - were permitted to vote in post offices in the city. The
others had to vote in suburbs.
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