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| Re-elected as Fatah Leader, Mahmoud Abbas Moves to Solidify Power | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| RAMALLAH, West Bank — Under siege at home and abroad, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority moved on Tuesday to solidify his decade-long hold on power with a party conference that had been purged of most of his opponents. | RAMALLAH, West Bank — Under siege at home and abroad, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority moved on Tuesday to solidify his decade-long hold on power with a party conference that had been purged of most of his opponents. |
| The carefully selected delegates wasted little time in formally re-electing Mr. Abbas as leader of Fatah, the party that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. A spokesman for Fatah, Mahmoud Abu al-Hija, told reporters who were not allowed into the conference hall that “everybody voted yes.” | The carefully selected delegates wasted little time in formally re-electing Mr. Abbas as leader of Fatah, the party that controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. A spokesman for Fatah, Mahmoud Abu al-Hija, told reporters who were not allowed into the conference hall that “everybody voted yes.” |
| The conference, Fatah’s first in seven years, came at a time when the Palestinians face economic troubles, violent clashes among competing clans, and the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Critics have complained that Mr. Abbas’s leadership has grown sclerotic and out of touch. He called the conference to demonstrate his continued grip on the Palestinian Authority and to restock the Fatah party leadership with allies. | The conference, Fatah’s first in seven years, came at a time when the Palestinians face economic troubles, violent clashes among competing clans, and the continuing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Critics have complained that Mr. Abbas’s leadership has grown sclerotic and out of touch. He called the conference to demonstrate his continued grip on the Palestinian Authority and to restock the Fatah party leadership with allies. |
| It remained unclear whether Mr. Abbas would use the gathering to lay out a succession plan. Though he is 81 and has battled heart problems, Mr. Abbas has rebuffed calls from Arab nations and Palestinian activists for him to groom a successor. Because of the split between Fatah and the more militant Hamas faction that controls Gaza, it is not certain who would be next in line to lead the Palestinian Authority if Mr. Abbas were to be incapacitated. | It remained unclear whether Mr. Abbas would use the gathering to lay out a succession plan. Though he is 81 and has battled heart problems, Mr. Abbas has rebuffed calls from Arab nations and Palestinian activists for him to groom a successor. Because of the split between Fatah and the more militant Hamas faction that controls Gaza, it is not certain who would be next in line to lead the Palestinian Authority if Mr. Abbas were to be incapacitated. |
| Israel, which has a large stake in who leads the Palestinian Authority, and the United States, which has watched with dismay as Palestinian partial self-rule has deteriorated in recent years, are both watching developments keenly, along with the Palestinians’ Arab allies. | Israel, which has a large stake in who leads the Palestinian Authority, and the United States, which has watched with dismay as Palestinian partial self-rule has deteriorated in recent years, are both watching developments keenly, along with the Palestinians’ Arab allies. |
| Mr. Abbas planned to address the conference on Tuesday evening, but some veteran observers doubted that he would use the occasion to identify a possible heir — if only because doing so might set up another power center in the West Bank that would inevitably undercut his authority. | Mr. Abbas planned to address the conference on Tuesday evening, but some veteran observers doubted that he would use the occasion to identify a possible heir — if only because doing so might set up another power center in the West Bank that would inevitably undercut his authority. |
| Missing from the conference were many Palestinian leaders and activists who have fallen out with Mr. Abbas, including those affiliated with Muhammad Dahlan, a former security chief who has lived in exile since 2011. | Missing from the conference were many Palestinian leaders and activists who have fallen out with Mr. Abbas, including those affiliated with Muhammad Dahlan, a former security chief who has lived in exile since 2011. |
| Allies of Mr. Dahlan, and even some Palestinians who were only thought to be his allies, have been purged from the Fatah party or arrested, and competing factions have engaged in violent clashes. | Allies of Mr. Dahlan, and even some Palestinians who were only thought to be his allies, have been purged from the Fatah party or arrested, and competing factions have engaged in violent clashes. |
| “To me, the story is who is not at the conference,” said Grant Rumley, a scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington and co-author of a forthcoming biography of Mr. Abbas. “This conference will formalize the split within his own party.” | “To me, the story is who is not at the conference,” said Grant Rumley, a scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington and co-author of a forthcoming biography of Mr. Abbas. “This conference will formalize the split within his own party.” |