Palestinians start choosing candidates for chairman election

The Palestinian central election committee began on Saturday registering candidates for the January 9 elections of a Palestinian Authority chairman to replace Yasser Arafat.

The candidate registration will continue until December 1, two weeks before the committee publishes the final list of candidates.

Five Palestinian left-wing groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, announced on Thursday they had asked Haider Abdel Safi, a veteran Palestinian figure in Gaza, to run in the elections as their candidate.

Abdel Shafi, who headed the Palestinian delegation in the 1991 Madrid peace summit, was until a year ago a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He decided to quit the council in protest of the body's "lack of democracy," he said.

Abdel Shafi, 87, is seen as a popular cross-faction figure among Palestinians. It still remains unclear whether his health would allow him to take the candidacy.

Abdel Shafi has so far not commented on the proposition.

So far two candidates have announced their intention to run in the elections. Both are running as independent candidates who don't represent any Palestinian faction.

The first is Abdel Sitar Qassem, who is considered close to the Islamic groups. Qassem has criticized the Palestinian Auhtorities in recent years.

The second candidate is T'lal Sider, one of the founders of the radical Islamic movement Hamas branch in Hebron.

After the creation of the Palestinian Authority Sider joined the ranks of the new authority and had even served as a cabinet minister.

According to the committee's regulations for submitting candidacy, the candidate has to be at least 35 years old and registered on the Palestinian voters' list. Candidates also have to forward $3,000 to the election committee.

Also, independent candidates who are not members of any group have to present 5,000 signatures in support of their candidacy.