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Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2085711/middle-east
Shock in Fatah over Birzeit University Student Election Loss
(Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Mohammed Najib - The Fatah-backed bloc in the Birzeit University student council elections, aligned with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, suffered a crushing defeat last week. It received the lowest number of votes and seats since the start of university elections in 1996, prompting the head of the Fatah movement in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, Muwafaq Suhwail, to resign. The Fatah loss will discourage the PA from organizing any legislative or presidential elections from now on. The last legislative elections were held in 2005. Ahmed Ghuneim, a prominent Fatah leader in eastern Jerusalem, said: "Fatah cannot continue in this way. It is time for a decisive and courageous decision to be taken to stop this collapse....The Palestinian Authority...leadership knows and realizes that it is a problem, but they insist that they remain in power and lead us from defeat to defeat." Nasser Al-Kidwa, the former Palestinian foreign minister dismissed from Fatah by Abbas after criticizing the PA leader's policies, said from his home in France: "Fatah... deserves punishment because it has committed enough mistakes to turn Palestinian public opinion against it."