A first: Hamas partakes in presidential elections

On Nov. 29, Khalil al-Hayya, a member of Hamas' political bureau and head of its media department, announced that Hamas had informed the Palestinian factions — without specifying when — that the Palestinian people needed a national figure for the presidential elections, agreed upon by the national majority. He added that Hamas is indeed pushing in this direction, provided that the candidate is supportive of the resistance program, and he ruled out the possibility of this figure being affiliated with Hamas.

This is the first official position that Hamas has expressed regarding the presidential elections; it boycotted them in previous rounds, on Jan. 20, 1996, when Yasser Arafat won, and on Jan. 9, 2005, when Mahmoud Abbas won. The movement refused to run a candidate or vote.

Mahmoud Mardawi, a member of Hamas' national relations department, told Al-Monitor, “Hamas perceives the presidential elections as a way to change the Palestinian situation, not to create internal debate and a new division. We hope that the candidates will prioritize the resistance to the Israeli occupation. The president of the Palestinian Authority has wide powers, which requires Hamas to choose an acceptable and inclusive national figure, and the movement is pushing in the direction of selecting a consensus candidate. There are many potential names, so long as factions agree on a candidate; it would not be right for each to put forward its own names.”

While Hamas has called for a consensual presidential candidate, Fatah has seen early disagreements over its candidate for the presidential election. On Oct. 15, Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of its central committee, tweeted that Fatah’s only candidate for the presidency was Abbas. However, the secretary of Fatah’s Central Committee, Jibril Rajoub, said Nov. 4 on Palestine TV that Abbas would not run.