Marwan Barghouti, a figure in the Palestinian political scene imprisoned in Israel and a senior Fatah executive, supports a dissident formation of the presidential party in view of the legislative elections in May, head of the list Nasser al-Kidwa told AFP on Thursday.

Submitted Wednesday evening to the Palestinian electoral commission, the list "Freedom" "is supported by Marwan Barghouti" and the presence of his wife Fadwa in second position "is the proof", declared to AFP Nasser al-Kidwa.

The latter was recently expelled from Fatah, the secular party of President Mahmoud Abbas, for having criticized the Palestinian leadership and wanted to stand alone in the May 22 legislative elections, the first since 2006.

This dissident held lengthy discussions with "associates and supporters" of Marwan Barghouti, which led to common positions on "virtually everything," he told AFP.

Thursday April 1, the day after the deadline for submitting candidatures, the electoral commission said it had received 36 lists.

Thirteen have been validated and the others, such as "Freedom", have yet to be examined.

Five life sentences

According to observers, Marwan Barghouti could reserve the possibility of competing for the presidential election, scheduled for July 31, rather than launching into the legislative race.

Considered by his supporters as the "Palestinian Mandela", he is serving five life sentences for murder, for his role in various anti-Israel attacks during the second Intifada (2000-2005).

According to a recent poll, 22% of Palestinians would like him to be the next president of the Palestinian Authority, against 14% for Ismail Haniyeh, of the Islamist movement Hamas, and 8% for Mahmoud Abbas.

The last Palestinian presidential election dates back to Mahmoud Abbas' victory in 2005, followed the following year by legislative elections won by his rivals Hamas, a prelude to bloody clashes between the two camps.

As a result of this confrontation, Hamas seized the Gaza Strip and Fatah found itself in control of the West Bank.

After years of tension, these two parties decided in 2020 to hold elections in these two territories.

They pledged in February to set up an independent electoral tribunal to rule on possible grievances and enforce the results of these polls.

With AFP

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