Former PA Senior Official Muhammad Dahlan: Mahmoud Abbas Achieved Nothing In His 15-Year Term; He Will Not Be The Only Candidate In Upcoming Elections; I Strive To Unite Fatah

Former PA Security Chief Muhammad Dahlan said that Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) had absolutely no achievements in his 15 years as PA President, and guaranteed that Abbas would not be the only candidate in the upcoming elections. Dahlan, who has been living in Abu Dhabi in recent years, made these remarks in an interview with Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that aired on March 17, 2021. He said that during Abbas' 15 years in office, the Palestinian homeland was split between Gaza and the West Bank, Israel reoccupied the West Bank, expanded settlements, and even in his own admission, it has humiliated and disrespected him. Dahlan said that he and his colleagues in the Democratic Reform Bloc in Fatah want to let bygones be bygones and unite the Fatah movement. He also said that Abbas' goal in the upcoming election is only to secure the legitimacy of his presidency and therefore, he wants to "pick the nominees, the candidates, and the voters." Dahlan said that he guarantees that Abbas will not be the only candidate in the elections. He continued to criticize Abbas’ conduct regarding 2,000 coronavirus vaccines the PA received from Israel, saying that he distributed them among his "cronies" and relatives.

Muhammad Dahlan: "The dispute [with Mahmoud Abbas] was about the structure of Fatah, and about promises that Abu Mazen made to the entire Palestinian people – that he wants to strengthen Fatah and the PA, and that he wants to reach an agreement [with Israel] that will fulfill..."

Interviewer: "And this did not happen."

Dahlan: "Not only did he not keep his promise, he even destroyed what had been built in Yasser Arafat's time. I don't want to be a part of this.

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"My wish is to stand in front of the Palestinian public and recount Abu Mazen's achievements in the last fifteen years. It is a big fat zero. I hope that he steps forward and talks about his achievements in the last fifteen years. Our homeland was split between Gaza and the [West] Bank, and Israel reoccupied the West Bank. [Abbas] himself says that Israel humiliates and disrespects him, and that the settlements are growing in number and expanding. And the worst of all, he is instilling defeat into the Palestinian consciousness.

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"Despite all Abu Mazen's offenses against me, my colleagues in the [Fatah Reform] Movement and I said, more than once, that we should let bygones be bygones, and that we should unite Fatah, but he does not want that. He wants to control everything and ostracize others. He wants to reach an agreement with Hamas – and this is what actually happened – according to which he would be the only presidential candidate – a consensus candidate, as if he were forty years old and his future was head of him.

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"[Abbas] wants to pick the nominees, the candidates, and the voters as well. He wants to be the one who decides everything, for the sake of a single purpose – to reestablish his legitimacy.

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"I can guarantee Abu Mazen that he will not be the only candidate in the coming presidential elections.

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"When I hear that Abu Mazen received 2,000 vaccines from Israel, and that he handed them out to his cronies, and then he sent some of them to his relatives or whoever in Jordan, while no one cares about Gaza... This is one of the things that constitute moral, national, and political disgrace."