Mohammed Dahlan indicates that he may run in the Palestinian Authority presidential election

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has let his people down for the past 15 years, ousted Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan said on Wednesday.

Dahlan has indicated he intends to run in the PA presidency, saying Abbas will not be the only candidate.

“Abbas only brought poverty, disease and tension to the Palestinian people,” Dahlan said in an interview with Saudi television news channel Al-Arabiya. “He is the leader of the Palestinian people and as such he is responsible for the failure. He destroyed the dignity of the Palestinians. What have been Abbas’ achievements over the past 15 years? One big zero. ”

Under Abbas, Dahlan said, the West Bank and Gaza Strip were divided and Israel “reoccupied the West Bank”.

The Palestinians, Dahlan warns, will not achieve a Palestinian state unless they change their political system. “If we do not change our Palestinian reality, we will not achieve our national rights,” he said.

Dahlan, who was expelled from Fatah in 2011 and has since lived in the United Arab Emirates, said he represented those who “refused to serve as slaves to Abbas and his regime”.

The ousted leader said his new movement, the Democratic Reform Current, would run in the upcoming Palestinian elections. “If the election is fair, Abbas’ list will be in a difficult situation,” he said.

Dahlan did not rule out the possibility that he would run in the PA presidential election. However, he made it clear that his movement would decide who would run in the parliamentary and presidential elections.

“I want to assure Abbas that he will not be the only candidate in the presidential election,” Dahlan said. “Abbas is not aware of this because he lives on another planet.”

PA officials said Dahlan would not be allowed to present his candidate for the July 13 presidential election because he was convicted of embezzling public funds by a Palestinian court in Ramallah.

“Abbas does not accept a different view,” he said. “Our movement wants a fundamental change in the Palestinian political system.”

Asked if his movement had entered into an alliance with Hamas, Dahlan replied: ‘I can not say that we are allies, but at least we are not in a state of conflict. I’m the one who started the reconciliation [with Hamas]. ”

HAMAS has allowed numerous Dahlan loyalists who have fled the Gaza Strip over the past ten weeks to return to the coastal slave. In the past week, two leading Dahlan loyalists, Rashid Abu Shbak and Majed Abu Shamaleh, have returned to the Gaza Strip through the border crossing with Egypt in Rafah.

Dahlan said he was expelled from Fatah in accordance with a personal decision by Abbas. “I do not blame the Fatah leaders who approved the decision because they are weak and powerless,” he added. “They do what Abbas tells them to do. This is what happened to Nasser al-Kidwa. ”

Kidwa, a nephew of former PLO leader Yasser Arafat and a former foreign minister, was recently expelled from Fatah for his decision to compile a new list to challenge the Palestinian election.

According to Dahlan, Abbas prefers to reach an agreement with Hamas on the election so that he can remain in power. He criticized the president for issuing new laws before the election.

“Abbas wants to select the candidates and the voters,” Dahlan said. “He wants to decide on everything to renew his legitimacy.”

Palestinians voted for Abbas in 2005 because he promised to achieve three things, Dahlan noted.

‘Abbas has pledged to reform and strengthen Fatah, reform the corrupt Palestinian Authority and bring about an honorable peace [with Israel], “he said.” Abbas did not achieve any of the three goals. “

Dahlan denies working as an agent for the UAE and other international parties. “The United Arab Emirates has no ambitions in the Palestinian issue,” he said, adding that it is “the second Arab country, after Saudi Arabia, to provide financial support to the Palestinian people.”

He accuses Abbas of refusing vaccines against the coronavirus that the UAE donated to the West Bank.

“Abbas accepted 2,000 vaccines from Israel and gave them to his associates and family members,” he said. “We are prepared to send vaccines to the West Bank, but Abbas does not accept them.”

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