Abu Zuhri: Fatah’s coup against legitimacy of Hamas will not be long

Senior Hamas official and spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri has said that Fatah turned against the legitimacy of his Movement after it lost the 2006 elections, relying on political money and security coordination, stressing that its black coup will not continue forever.

“Fatah leaders, who describe Hamas as a militia hijacking Gaza, must remember that Hamas is the number one faction by virtue of the election results,” Abu Zuhri stated on his Twitter page.

The 2006 elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority, was a landslide victory for Hamas, which contested under the list name of Change and Reform. It won 74 seats of the 132 seats, while the then ruling Fatah won just 45.

Although, the international community recognized the legitimacy of the election, the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas refused to accept the results and started, in cooperation with Israel and other external powers, to place obstacles in the way of the 10th Palestinian government, which was formed at the time by senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneyya.