Hamas loses control at key Palestinian university

NABLUS, West Bank, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The ruling Palestinian Hamas movement lost control of a key student council in the occupied West Bank on Monday in an election often seen as a bellwether of general opinion.

The Islamist group tied with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah with 38 seats apiece in the poll at A-Najah, the West Bank's largest university, in Nablus. Hamas lost two seats and Fatah picked up four over past year.

Fatah was now favoured to head the 81-member council in coalition with several smaller allies.

Hamas's outright defeat of Fatah in the same university poll last year had heralded Hamas's victory the following January in a parliamentary election, which ousted Fatah from longstanding dominancy of Palestinian politics.

Youssef Harb, a Fatah spokesman for the Nablus region, said of the poll: "We consider this an achievement. Fatah has increased its power and will head the next student council."

A Hamas official in Nablus said the results showed Hamas had not been defeated by Fatah and "has confirmed its popularity again".

Analysts say the poll may reflect an overall popularity decline for Hamas after an economic crisis triggered by a Western aid embargo that had been aimed at pressuring Hamas to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

"Often the educated youth are closer to Hamas and this is a good indication that there is a shift away from Hamas," said Jamil Rabah, who heads the think-tank, Near East Consulting, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

But Hamas's decline has not necessarily boosted Fatah's popularity, as illustrated by the draw in Monday's vote, Rabah said. "People are fed up with both. The popular appeal is very much split between Hamas and Fatah."

Talks between Fatah and Hamas on forging a unity government more acceptable to Western powers have become bogged down in disagreement over which party would control the key interior and finance ministries. (Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah)

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.