Palestine’s Fatah gears up for internal polls Saturday

By Anees Barghouti

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Candidates will be nominated Friday evening for seats on the Palestinian Fatah movement's Revolutionary Council and Central Committee, according to a movement spokesperson.

Mahmoud Abu al-Haija, a spokesman for Fatah's ongoing seventh general congress, told Anadolu Agency that the nomination process for council and committee seats would begin today at 6:00 p.m. local time.

"The nomination processes will end today," he said, "while the vote will be held Saturday morning."

Composed of 21 party members, Fatah’s Central Committee is the group’s main decision-making body and is responsible for all its activities.

The 50-member Revolutionary Council, meanwhile, is the movement’s highest legislative body.

More than 1,400 Fatah members are attending the five-day congress, which is slated to wrap up Saturday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.