Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has cast his ballot in internal Fatah leadership elections held at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah.

The leaders were elected for the movement’s Central Committee and Revolutionary Council at the Ahmad Shuqairi Hall on Saturday.

After casting his vote, President Abbas pressed to ensure the success of the democratic process that he said would reflect the unity of the movement and its commitment to renewing its leadership institutions, the Wafa news agency reported.

The congress is Fatah’s highest decision-making body. The ongoing election is taking place at one of the most volatile junctures in Palestinian history amid Israel’s genocidal war.

This eighth congress was originally due in 2021 but has been delayed for five years. The previous meeting, the seventh congress, took place in 2016.

Nearly 2,580 members are participating across four locations – Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo, and Beirut – to overcome the geographical fragmentation of the movement.

“This year is the year of democracy. We held an important conference for the Fatah youth, followed by the holding of local elections last April,” Abbas said.

“Today is the Eighth Conference of Fatah, and we are preparing for the elections of the National Council in November, as well as the general and presidential elections, starting with the drafting of the constitution, the political parties law, and the general elections law,” the 90-year-old leader continued.

The result of the Eighth General Conference of Fatah is scheduled to be announced on Saturday evening local time.

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The question of who will eventually succeed Abbas looms large over the conference. Analysts see the congress as a move to weaken democratic mechanisms and install a circle of loyalists in key positions to manage the transition.

Earlier in the week, the veteran leader noted the decades-long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, saying the gathering “on our homeland’s soil confirms our determination to continue on the democratic path”.

Late on Thursday, Abbas was unanimously re-elected as the leader of the Fatah movement.

The Fatah leadership has been criticised for prioritising loyalty over democratic debate by “flooding” the congress with more than 2,500 members, many of whom are senior officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civil services.