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Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060123-122636-4501r.htm
Abbas under Radar as Elections Loom
(Washington Times) Joshua Mitnick - A kaleidoscope of campaign banners floats above traffic-choked el-Manara Square in Ramallah in the West Bank, but nowhere to be seen is the likeness of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. "On a popular level, people do not see him really as someone whom they can trust to deliver because they've given him a full year to deliver, and he didn't. There's an ironic thing: Here the Palestinian public and the Israeli government meet," said Basem Ezbidi, a political science professor at Birzeit University. With the political party bequeathed to him by Arafat disintegrating, Abbas' authority is being widely questioned. If Fatah performs poorly on Wednesday, he will be seen as a lame-duck with no mandate to lead. "I do not see Mahmoud Abbas part of the political scene eight months from now. I see him disappearing somehow and resigning."