Marwan Barghouti forms new electoral list with Arafat's nephew Nasser Qudwa 

Newly dismissed Fatah member, Nasser Al-Qudwa, yesterday registered the electoral list formed jointly by him and imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, Safa news agency reported.

This came after Al-Qudwa and close aides of Barghouti signed an agreement to form their own electoral list for the parliamentary election.

The list, named the Freedom List, includes senior Fatah leaders and former prisoners.

Al-Qudwa heads the list and Marwan Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, is his deputy.

News reports emerged on Tuesday claiming Barghouti had been dismissed from Fatah, however the movement has denied them. The news led to scores of Fatah members who are loyal to Barghouti taking to the streets and shooting into the air in protest.

A poll carried out by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research earlier this week found that Barghouti is expected to get the largest number of votes if he runs for president. It also found that if Barghouti led an independent electoral list, and Fatah and Hamas each had their separate lists, 79 per cent of the Palestinians would participate in the parliamentary elections.

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