“Administrative and financial corruption and oppression of civil freedoms are high on my platform,” the engineering professor said.

By Adam Wild Aba, IOL Correspondent

WASHINGTON, December 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Abdel Halim Al-Ashqar is the only Palestinian presidential hopeful vying for the post from outside the occupied Palestinian territories.

“Administrative and financial corruption and oppression of civil freedoms are high on my platform,” the engineering professor, currently under house arrest in the United States on charges of funding the resistance movement Hamas, told IslamOnline.net.

Ashqar, who has been residing in Northern Virginia since 1989, said he felt it incumbent upon himself to seize the window of opportunity that presented itself after the demise of emblematic president Yasser Arafat.

He sees front-runner Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as not the answer to the Palestinian problem, but rater a “part” of it, arguing that the new chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) accepts any Israeli-US offer at face value.

Ashqar said he is against waiving Palestinian rights and resolving the Palestinian problem in accordance with the 1993 Oslo accords, which he said had “annulled international legitimacy.”

“Since the signing of the accords, the number of the Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories has tripled and Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem) is being Judaized,” he maintained.

“Palestinians are often denied access to Al-Aqsa mosque [the third holiest shrine in Islam], the Palestinian average income slumped to $700 a year from $1600 along with towering unemployment rates and appalling living standards.”

Palestinians head to the polls on January 9 to elect a successor to lead the Palestinian Authority after late President Arafat, with eight candidates vying for the post.

Resistance

Ashqar hailed the unabated Palestinian resistance as the main reason behind the planned Israeli pullout of the Gaza Strip.

“Surely, the disengagement plan of (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is one of the resistance’s achievements,” he said.

“Had it not been for the resistance, Sharon would have not considered pulling out from a ‘sacred’ land. We had seen the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and now from the Gaza Strip.”

Thanks to resistance operations carried out by Hezbollah, Israeli occupation troops were forced on May 24, 2000 to withdraw from a large territory in southern Lebanon, occupied by Israel in 1978.

Effective Opposition

Ashqar said winning or losing in the vote does not really matter, but the phenomenal participation of more than one candidate paves the way for an effective opposition.

“The opposition voice has been marginalized for eight years, when the Palestinian Authority was established and the legislative election held.

“So I decided to run in the upcoming election to start an effective opposition from now on, which will not tolerate any violation or compromise on the inalienable rights of the Palestinians.”

Asked why the Americans and the Israelis insist on Abu Mazen, Ashqar said, “because he knows nothing but negotiations.”

“Israel and the US are trying to make the Palestinians feel desperate and convince them that Abu Mazen is their savior and the answer to all their woes.”

On his platform, Ashqar said he gives due attention to national unity and separating the legislative, executive and legal authorities.

Hamas, one of the main Palestinian factions outside the PLO,  pressed for general elections  in the occupied Palestinian territories, to elect a president, a new parliament and municipalities.

Ashqar further said the sufferings and living standards of the Palestinians are also an overriding issue, criticizing years of preoccupation with only political initiatives and futile negotiations with the Israeli occupation.

Ten candidates were registered by the Palestinian Central Elections Committee to run the presidential race.

Jailed Fatah leader in the West Bank Marwan Al-Barghuthi and Abdel Sattar Qassam, a university professor, have quit the race.

According to the law, an eligible candidate should be more than 35 years old, register in the registration center and present the needed documents.

Independent candidates need that and also the signatures of 5,000 supporters as well as depositing 3,000 US dollars with the Committee.

Ashqar’s family and friends collected around 8000 signatures to support his candidacy, according to the Palestinian Information Center.