Senior Fatah official says movement is seeing a ‘decline among the masses’

A senior Palestinian official warns that the ruling Fatah party is seeing declining popularity in the West Bank because of its failure to deliver on promises.

“I can tell you there is something of a decline in Fatah’s presence among the masses,” Mahmud Aloul, deputy chairman of President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah movement which dominates the territory, tells journalists in Ramallah.

“Fatah adopted peaceful means, and made promises to the public, but it has not been able to deliver on them,” he adds. “This is an essential part of what has led to a decline in its popularity.”

At 72, Aloul is one of the most senior figures in the Palestinian movement and is often mentioned as a possible successor to 87-year-old Abbas. But he appears to rule himself out as a successor for Abbas, saying: “We will look for someone from the younger generation.”