“Abu Mazen,” as Abbas likes to be called, is extremely unpopular. An October survey (PCPSR) conducted in the so-called “West Bank” and the Gaza Strip found that 80 percent of Palestinians would welcome his resignation. People associate Abbas with total inaction when it comes to the welfare of his own population.
Authoritarian
After Cameroon’s Paul Biya (92), Abbas is the second-oldest serving head of government in the world. The successor to PLO chief Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004, clings to his chair. He prevents elections and cracks down hard on any potential rival. Democratic political engagement within the PA is impossible. Alternative leadership structures or participation by grassroots movements are out of the question.
One main reason Abbas has so far blocked any elections in the Palestinian-controlled parts of Judea and Samaria is his Fatah leadership in Ramallah’s fear of losing power to Hamas. Yet it is precisely the rampant corruption he practices and his political rigidity that are making him...
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