FATAH CONGRESS: ON DAY TWO, QUESTIONS REMAIN ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001354

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/05/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV KWBG KPAL IS
SUBJECT: FATAH CONGRESS: ON DAY TWO, QUESTIONS REMAIN ON
POLITICAL MESSAGE AND LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS

REF: JERUSALEM 1345

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles for reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (C) Summary. A debate over Fatah's past dominated
discussions on the second day of the Sixth Congress, leaving
little time to focus on preparations for leadership
elections. It is possible that elections may slip a day
(until 8/7) as a result. Discussions have not yet begun on
the political program. On a positive note, a threatened
walkout by Gaza delegates was averted, though the fundamental
question of how to account for the absence of most of the
Gaza contingent remains unresolved. Finally, reaction to Abu
Mazen's speech among our contacts varied, but most said the
leadership elections would be the ultimate barometer of
success for the Congress, not the speeches. End Summary.

Second Day Focuses on Election and Program
--------------


2. (C) According to four participants, the second day of the
Fatah General Congress focused on two issues: controversy
over the outgoing Fatah Central Committee (FCC) report and
preparations for leadership elections. During the morning
session on August 5, when recently-returned Fatah official
Abu Maher took the floor to deliver a speech on FCC
activities since 1989, former General Intelligence (GI) Chief
Tawfiq Tirawi interrupted him and demanded that the FCC
submit a written report in stead of a speech. Tirawi also
called for the FCC to be "tried" for the failure of the Fatah
movement over the past twenty years. After intense applause,
Abu Ala'a and Sa'eb Erekat countered that Abu Mazen's speech
should be considered the written FCC report. Participants
said this proposal was voted down by a show of hands, at
which point Abu Mazen himself entered the room. (Fatah
delegate Ahmad Sayyed told PolSpec that Tirawi was later
involved in a shoving match with members of the Presidential
Guard, after which his blood pressure rose to the point he
was taken to a nearby health clinic.)


3. (C) Abu Mazen began his intervention by describing the
Congress as a "great accomplishment," and praised the
internal debate as healthy for the movement. However,
according to our sources, when Abu Mazen tried to describe
his speech at the opening session as the formal report of the
FCC, delegate Husam Khader interrupted to call the FCC an
"old and outdated body" and Abu Mazen a "regular member of
the Congress like all of us here." Abu Mazen ordered Khader
to leave but he refused. Ultimately Khader backed down from
the confrontation and returned to his seat. However, our
contacts said debate on the issue continued even after Abu
Mazen departed from the session, and they predicted a special
vote would take place on whether Abu Mazen's speech could
substitute for the FCC report.

Timeline May Slip for Elections
--------------


4. (C) The controversy over the FCC report delayed plans to
discuss other key issues, such as the political program and
election preparations. Fatah sources told PolSpec the
Congress may be extended one additional day (until August 7)
as a result, with elections slipping until the final day.
Another reason for delay was Abu Ala'a's decision to use the
August 4 evening session to read aloud the names of all 2,267
delegates to confirm the presence of a quorum. The roll call
ended near midnight, to the chagrin of our contacts.


5. (C) Meanwhile, a planned walkout by roughly 180 delegates
(mainly from Gaza) affiliated with Mohammed Dahlan appears to
have been averted, for now. As reported reftel, these
delegates threatened to leave the Congress if a formula could
not be found to account for the Gazans whose participation
Hamas blocked in the leadership elections. FRC member Naser
al-Qidwa told PolSpec he met with the group the evening of
August 4 and discouraged such a walkout, arguing that such a
move could backfire and marginalize them. Fatah officials
told PolSpec a number of proposals are circulating informally
to end the impasse, such as withholding a quota of seats for
future elections at a "mini-Congress."


6. (C) PLO Executive Committee Secretary Yasir Abd Rabbo told
the Consul General in an August 5 telcon that Abu Mazen's
plan is to let the debate run a bit longer before tabling a
proposal of his own. Abd Rabbo said the compromise would
involve requiring all delegates to vote for at least two
Gazans in the FCC elections. The new FCC would then appoint

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an additional four Gazans, in addition to the traditional
appointments of a woman and a Christian.

Mixed Assessments of Abu Mazen's Speech
--------------


7. (C) Our contacts' assessments of Abu Mazen's inaugural
speech varied widely. PM Salaam Fayyad tod the Consul
General on 8/5 "it was a dumb speech," adding that Abu Mazen
had gone overboard in praising the legacy of the Tunis
generation at the expense of the first intifada generation
and Marwan Barghouthi. Abd Rabbo was slightly more
charitable. He told the Consul General that Abu Mazen
"wanted to enhance his image by tying himself to Arafat and
the movement's history." Nonetheless, Abd Rabbo admitted "it
was a lousy speech" and said he had seen the final version
too close to the event to do much with it.


8. (C) There was little convergence among the other sources
we polled. Azariya mayor (and Fatah member) Issam Faraun
praised the speech as setting an appropriate tone for the
Congress, and expressed continued hope the leadership
elections would produce a revitalized movement. However, he
admitted there will be a gap between his expectations and the
likely outcome. Pollster Khalil Shikaki said "Abu Mazen is
no Yasir Arafat when it comes to delivery, but in the end the
fact of the Congress is still a major achievement." He added
that much depends on whether, and how, leadership elections
are conducted. Zakaria al Qaq, al-Quds University's Vice
President for External Affairs, said Abu Mazen's speech
focused on the "fairy tale of history," adding "Abu Mazen
used an Arafat technique - exhaust your audience with stories
so you don't have to give them substance." He described the
Congress as little more than a "festival" so far. Both al
Qaq and Abed Rabbo came up with the same bottom line: the
election results will determine whether Fatah had reformed,
not the speeches.
WALLES