Intelligence

Hamas election victory hits `like an earthquake'

TheStar.com - Hamas election victory hits `like an earthquake'

Jan. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
MITCH POTTER
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU

RAMALLAH, West Bank— Left standing was a president who still wants peace. But behind Mahmoud Abbas, the defeated Palestinian leadership was in shambles last night, vowing it would have nothing to do with a government led by the unexpected triumph of Hamas.

The militant Islamic group, in its first-ever bid for a role in national politics, collected more than 50 per cent of the vote in parliamentary elections Wednesday and will claim a majority 76 seats in the 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council, according to official, near-complete results released yesterday.

Four victorious independents were also backed by Hamas. Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian political life since the 1960s but alienated voters because of rampant corruption, got 43 seats. The remaining seats went to smaller parties.

The numbers numbed the international community, contradicting all estimates, including earlier exit polls that suggested a narrow victory for Fatah, and ending four decades of virtual one-party rule over the stateless Palestinians.

Yesterday's stunning turnaround triggered immediate fears of clashes, as jubilant Hamas loyalists and their embittered Fatah rivals spilled into the streets. One such confrontation ended in a brawl on the steps of the Palestinian parliament in the de facto West Bank capital of Ramallah, as marching Hamas supporters scaled the walls to drape the green flag of Islam.

As the region's leaders absorbed what amounts to a Palestinian revolution, diplomatic gridlock took hold. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, facing his own election in the race to succeed a comatose, stroke-stricken Ariel Sharon, ruled out contact with Hamas, warning Palestinians face an era of international isolation unless the group responsible for the majority of suicide bombings against Israel renounces such attacks.

"If a government led by Hamas or in which Hamas is a coalition partner is established, the Palestinian Authority will be turned into an authority that supports terror," Olmert said. "Israel and the world will ignore it and make it irrelevant."

Fatah leaders conceded defeat, with Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his cabinet submitting their resignations and other party officials calling the outcome more a scathing indictment of government corruption than an endorsement of political Islam.

"It hit us like an earthquake. We wanted a democratic life and it was built on our corpse," said Abdel Fateh Hamayel, a Fatah official associated with the party's young guard.

"I hope that our brothers in Hamas rise to the occasion. Let them now say what they will do. But Fatah must bear full responsibility for what happened. The people have spoken out against a party whose agenda has made room for thugs, robbers and corrupt, dishonest people."

Hamas leaders appeared taken aback by the extent of victory, initially rebuffing media requests for interviews. The movement, which operates under a charter calling for Israel's destruction, had mounted a near-perfect campaign under the banner of Change and Reform, promising to focus singularly on domestic issues while hinting at a new willingness to negotiate with Israel.

Abbas, who will continue to hold the presidency he assumed after winning election one year ago, said in a televised speech he intends to push forward toward peace with Israel, even as consultations begin with Hamas for the formation of a new government.

`We wanted a democratic life and it was built on our corpse,' Fatah backer says
"I am committed to implementing the program on which you elected me," Abbas said. "It is a program based on negotiations and peaceful settlement with Israel."

Hamas leaders issued a series of statements offering an olive branch to their secular Palestinian counterparts and Israelis alike. The movement's overall leader Khaled Mashal called Abbas from exile in Damascus, announcing Hamas would seek a political partnership.

Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar, speaking to reporters in Gaza, said the group was prepared to extend the period of tadiyah (calm) agreed to last February if Israel will reciprocate.

"If they are going to continue commitment to what is called quietness, then we will continue," Zahar told Associated Press. "But if not, then I think we will have no option but to protect our people and our land."

Palestinian political insiders predicted weeks of back-channel negotiations are likely before a new government can emerge, as a reluctant Hamas grapples with the predicament of assuming a degree of power that exceeds its ambitions.

In Ramallah last night, tensions outside parliament offered the first unnerving glimpse of the destabilized relationship between mosque and state. The clash between Hamas and Fatah activists resulted in minor injuries, and a volley of stones left a dozen windows broken on the façade of the Palestinian legislative chambers.

One participant, Hamas loyalist Saleh Mikdar, 40, blamed a Fatah supporter for triggering the melee by breaking over his knee a green flag bearing the slogan: "There is no God but God."

"He provoked the feelings of the entire Islamic nation. A fight broke out and they beat the hell out of him," said Mikdar, a printer from Al-Amari Refugee Camp, outside Ramallah.

"But I hope this is an isolated incident. I don't think it will be the start of problems, because we are brothers, Hamas and Fatah."

As Palestinian security officials replaced national flags dislodged by the rioters, a police officer fired in the air to restore order. One police captain seized a microphone from his cruiser, enraged by the spectacle. "The Palestinian Authority still exists," he warned the crowd. "If you touch the nation's flag, you will be hanged on the spot."

Reaction to the Hamas landslide included fears that civil liberties taken for granted in Ramallah will eventually fall prey to the ideological dictates of the emerging government.

"Nothing will happen for six months or maybe a year," said restaurateur Bassem Khoury, a member of the Palestinian Christian minority and the operator of Pronto, known to serve alcohol.

"But eventually, I worry they will force my wife to wear the abbayah and I don't know what else. In Arabic we have a saying, `Never invite a bear into your garden.' Now the bear is here."

January 27, 2006 at 08:37 AM in Middle East | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home