Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will not run for re-election, senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub told Palestine TV on Monday.
Rajoub’s announcement contradicted Hussein al-Sheikh, who recently said that Abbas is Fatah’s only candidate in the next presidential election.
“President Abbas is the only candidate of Fatah and honorable Palestinians,” stated Sheikh.
“Let us make him the sheikh of the tribe and the spiritual father of the democratic process,” said Rajoub. “In two months, President Abbas will celebrate his 85th birthday.”
In a speech in September at the annual U.N. General Assembly, Abbas said he will call for “general elections” in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem.
Abbas is currently in the 14th year of a four-year term.
A date for the Palestinian elections has yet to be determined.
