The Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah) Central Committee decided on Sunday to dismiss 76 of its members after running as independent candidates in the latest Palestinian Legislative Council's (PLC) elections. The dismissed persons included six members of Fatah's Revolutionary Council -- Burhan Jarrar, Ahmad Al-Deek, Fayez Zaidan, Nahedh Al-Raees, Fakhri Shaqourah and Saleem Al-Zaree'e. As it is the mediator between Fatah's Central Committee and General-Assembly, the Revolutionary Council is a key body in the movement.Before the elections, the movement said any member who runs independently in the elections will be dismissed. Many of Fatah members said the independence of some its members in the elections led to losing the election to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
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In another development, Fatah's command in Rafah issued collective resignation to establish a preparatory committee for the movement's in-house elections. In a press release, the command requested the resignation of the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council before establishing the committee in preparation for the movement's sixth General-Assembly. The command urged Fatah's PLC members not to participate in the upcoming cabinet that will be lead by Hamas.
In Rafah, as it was the only city where Fatah held internal preparatory elections, Fatah's candidates won the city's three PLC posts. For past three days, Fatah's allies held protests over the movement's electoral defeat, requesting the Central Committee's resignation. Protestors raided the PLC's headquarters in Gaza and caused some material damage. Out of the PLC's 132 chairs, the elections final results gave Fatah 45 spots and awarded Hamas the right to form the upcoming cabinet with 78 MPs.