By Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly

Despite the storms and heavy strikes Fatah mainstream movement went through in the past 20 years, Mahmoud Abbas has succeeded to unite his movement and brought it to the safe terra firma.

After he was re-elected as Fatah chief, Abbas would try to be a leader with charisma like late leader Yasser Arafat, who founded the movement in 1965 and died in November 2004.

Abbas proudly thanked the congress members for giving him the confidence again to lead the movement that faces so many challenges in the future.

"We could face a real fission if this conference was not held. Many wagered that Fatah movement was on its way to doom, but here we are, we have proved to those who attempted to break Fatah that we are united and strong," said Abbas right after he was re- elected on Sunday.

Abbas different from Arafat

Abbas was the only Fatah leader, who gained unprecedented consensus and support by his party's leaders in the sixth general congress that was held for the first time in the Palestinian territories in 20 years.

Hani el-Masri, the West Bank political analyst and writer, told Xinhua that Abbas "was the greatest winner in the conference, who faced and still faces many obstacles."

El-Masri described Abbas as "the man who has a moderate and realistic charisma that is different from Arafat's."

Palestinian observers see that Arafat, the revolutionist, did all his best to raise from a leader of a liberation movement to a president of a state, while Abbas, who has never been a militant, is always trying to build up Fatah movement as a movement of institutions, which made him easily win the election without competition.

"Abbas succeeded to a great extent to put Fatah movement on the first step towards building up an institution that counts on a selective leadership. Now I can say that he can lead Fatah and take it ahead to a better future," said el-Masri.

Abaas confident of Himself

In his long speech at the congress opening ceremony, Abbas appeared to be very confident of himself, and he had no doubts that he was going to be re-elected again, which was weakened by internal disputes, disorganization and competition with its Hamas rival.

Abbas, who is considered by Gaza-ruling Hamas movement as illegal president, slammed the Islamic movement for seizing control of the Gaza Strip by force, but he said "no one can erase Hamas which is part of the Palestinian people, and one day we will reconcile and be united."

Observers in the congress appreciated Abbas' performance during the debates at the conference, his success to overcome expected fission, and his immediate interference to end crucial disputes.

Abbas, who succeeded Arafat and was elected as the chairman of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in January 2005, is enjoying a large support from the West. He was known as the underground architect of Oslo peace treaty which was signed in 1994 as a cornerstone for the independent statehood.

Moderate Abbas versus Hawkish Netanyahu

Abbas was always against the use of violence to fight Israel and end the military occupation of the Palestinian territories by "armed struggle," while he preferred to gain the rights of the Palestinians for independence through peaceful negotiations and "peaceful struggle."

Khalil Shahin, a political analyst and a columnist in the Ramallah-based al-Ayyam Daily, said that the period after the congress "will be the most important and crucial one, because Abbas have to face Netanyahu in order to achieve what he had promised to achieve."

"The power that Abbas has right now may not last for too long if there is no seriousness to reach a real peace that ends the Israeli occupation. His strength would increase if the U.S. Administration gives him a horizon for serious peace talks," said Shahin.

"But this horizon might be blocked by an extremely right-wing Israeli government," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2009)