Yasser Abbas, son of PA president, elected to Fatah Central Committee

• Yasser Abbas, son of Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, elected to Fatah Central Committee

Yasser Abbas, the eldest son of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, has been elected to the Central Committee of the Fatah movement, its highest decision-making body, following internal elections held on Saturday at the conclusion of the party’s general conference across Ramallah, Gaza, Cairo and Beirut.

The 64-year-old businessman, who owns several companies operating in various sectors in the Palestinian territories, has been increasingly visible in political affairs since his appointment about five years ago as “special representative of the president.”

Preliminary results released early Sunday showed veteran Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who has been imprisoned by Israel since 2002, retaining his seat on the committee and receiving the highest number of votes.

Other senior figures who kept their positions include Hussein al-Sheikh, deputy to the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization; Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy head of Fatah; Jibril Rajoub, former secretary of the Central Committee; and former intelligence chief Tawfiq Tirawi.

Newly elected members include Majed Faraj, head of Palestinian intelligence services, and Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin refugee camp, who was released last year as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

Conference organizers said voter turnout for the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council elections reached 94.64%, with 2,507 members casting ballots.

A total of 59 candidates competed for 18 seats in the Central Committee, while 450 candidates vied for 80 seats in the Revolutionary Council.

The final results are expected to be officially announced later on Sunday in a press conference in Ramallah.

The Fatah general conference began on Thursday and saw Mahmoud Abbas re-elected as head of the movement, a position he has held alongside leadership of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO for more than two decades.

Abbas has previously pledged reforms to the Palestinian leadership structure, including “renewing blood” in Fatah and the PLO, amid growing regional and international calls for political reform within the Palestinian Authority.