عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Blank Ballots Impede Vote for New Hamas Leader

Hamas leaders, from right: Rawhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh, all of whom were assassinated, Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas media)
Hamas leaders, from right: Rawhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh, all of whom were assassinated, Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas media)
TT
TT

Blank Ballots Impede Vote for New Hamas Leader

Hamas leaders, from right: Rawhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh, all of whom were assassinated, Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas media)
Hamas leaders, from right: Rawhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh, all of whom were assassinated, Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas media)

While many were waiting to learn who would become the new head of Hamas’s political bureau, the movement issued a rare and surprising statement last Saturday saying the result could not be decided in the first round and that a second would be held.

Asharq Al-Awsat asked Hamas sources inside and outside Gaza why the process of electing a new leader had stalled.

Speaking separately, they cited several factors, including “blank ballots” cast by some voters to show they were not backing either of the two contenders, Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’s office in Gaza, and Khaled Meshaal, his counterpart abroad.

Hamas is facing its worst crisis since it was founded in 1987. Israeli strikes that began after the October 7, 2023, attack have hit its various wings and leaderships.

Israel assassinated its political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024. He was succeeded by Yahya al-Sinwar in Gaza in October of the same year.

For about a year and a half, a “leadership council” has been running Hamas’s affairs. At the start of this year, a new push began to elect a chief to lead the movement for the remaining period of the current political bureau’s term. The term had been due to end in 2025 but was extended by one year, pending general elections at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

Two options

Three Hamas sources, including two outside Gaza, told Asharq Al-Awsat that since the result was not decided in favor of either al-Hayya or Meshaal, the movement’s internal regulations offer “two options: either the candidate with fewer votes withdraws in favor of the one with more, or a second round is held within 20 days of the first.”

The vote to elect the head of the political bureau is conducted through the 71-member Shura Council.

The two sources outside Gaza said many voters submitted blank votes, meaning they did not name any candidate. This prevented either contender from winning the first round.

Both sources, who are senior leaders in the movement, said this was “the first time” they had seen such a situation in a vote for the head of the bureau.

One source said the situation suggested “dissatisfaction with the two competing figures, and perhaps a protest against the movement’s policies and an attempt to push toward a younger leadership.”

The other source said: “This is not necessarily a protest against the contenders, as much as it indicates that there is real rejection of some policies on several files, or a desire to postpone the idea of electing an interim chief, wait until comprehensive elections are held, and keep the current leadership council in place.”

Hard-fought contest

Assessments inside and outside Hamas suggest that the competition between al-Hayya and Meshaal reflects diverging trends between two camps within the movement.

Al-Hayya is believed to be closer to support from the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, and to advocates of closer ties with Iran.

Meshaal is seen as representing a current that is more independent from tying the movement’s path to Tehran, as reflected in his dispute over the events of the Syrian revolution and in distancing the movement from involvement in it.

One source outside Gaza described the election as a very tight contest between Meshaal and al-Hayya, saying Hamas’s leadership in Gaza had controlled the movement’s most important files over the past two election cycles.

The source inside Gaza said only that “decisions within the movement are made by consensus, regardless of the standing or historical role of whoever leads Hamas.”

Previous elections

In previous years, elections for the head of Hamas’s political bureau were held as part of broader elections for the entire bureau and its various bodies.

In the last comprehensive elections, held in 2021, Haniyeh secured the leadership of the political bureau for a second term. His closest rivals were Saleh al-Arouri and Mohammed Nazzal, respectively.

In his first term as head of the movement in 2017, Haniyeh ran for the leadership with relative ease after Meshaal, who led Hamas’s political bureau between 2013 and 2017, was unable to run.

In the last election, held in Gaza, there was a fierce contest between Sinwar and Nizar Awadallah. It was heading for a second round before Awadallah withdrew in favor of Sinwar.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Sweida Activist Speaks of Preparations to Drag Governorate into Confrontation with Syrian Security

Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)
Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)
TT
TT

Sweida Activist Speaks of Preparations to Drag Governorate into Confrontation with Syrian Security

Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)
Gunmen loyal to al-Hijri on patrol in Sweida. (AFP file)

An activist leader in Syria's Druze-majority Sweida governorate has warned of ongoing attempts by the so-called "National Guard" to "drag the governorate into a new, wide-scale confrontation" with the government's Internal Security Forces, "under the direction of an Israeli politician who is a former Knesset member, and Syrian Druze politicians residing abroad."
An informed source inside Sweida city did not rule out the claim, noting that "these actors are pushing for this in an attempt to thwart the formation of an Israeli government led by Gadi Eisenkot."
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the activist, who opposes the policies of Sheikh al-Aql Hikmat al-Hijri and his "National Guard," said: "Currently, there are those trying to sow discord anew and create unrest with the villages where the (government) Internal Security Forces are deployed."
"After every period of calm and the emergence of a possibility to initiate dialogue, someone seeks to escalate the situation again," he said.
A cautious calm has held along the governorate's frontlines for roughly three weeks between Internal Security Forces and the "National Guard." Al-Hijri has also refrained from making any statements that might stoke tensions.
The source said the plot to reignite tensions in the governorate also involves "striking the sites where the (National Guard) holds detainees, in order to cover up for prisoners who were handed over in exchange for sums of money."
He believed the plan to rekindle tensions in the governorate serves multiple purposes, including "undermining the positive role Jordan is playing toward the new Syria and efforts to resolve the Sweida crisis," as well as causing "a certain embarrassment" to Israeli Prime Minister-designate Eisenkot.
The "National Guard," which controls wide swaths of the governorate, including Sweida city, "possesses the capabilities to reignite tensions" with the Internal Security Forces, "especially as it works relentlessly to fuel resentment among residents against the government," he added.
He warned: "Once the battle begins, every civilian will be forced to carry arms," stressing the need to "deprive them of the opportunity to widen the rift and ease tensions until we reach a national solution."
A source residing in Sweida city told Asharq Al-Awsat: "Instruments of the (Likud) party are pushing to drag the governorate into a confrontation with Syrian security, in order to find a pretext for Israel to intervene against the Syrian state under the guise of protecting the Druze."
Sweida Governor Mustafa al-Bakour had previously extended several invitations to residents for dialogue to resolve the governorate's crisis, which has persisted since the July 2025 unrest. His calls went unanswered.
Several sources in Sweida said this is due to "the policy of repression and treason accusations prevailing in the areas under the influence of al-Hijri and the National Guard, who reject dialogue with the government, demand the right to self-determination, and sought - with the support of outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - to separate the governorate from Syria and establish what is called the (State of Bashan)" there.

Arab World

Talabani Deepens Dispute with Barzani as Settlement Appears out of Reach

Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)
Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)
TT
TT

Talabani Deepens Dispute with Barzani as Settlement Appears out of Reach

Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)
Bafel Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and son of the former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, attends the inauguration and handover ceremony for the new Iraqi president at al-Salam Palace in Baghdad, Oct. 17, 2022. (AP)

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani deepened his criticism of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), two days after KDP President Masoud Barzani called on Kurdish forces to engage in dialogue to resolve disputes between the two main parties, amid growing signs of political and administrative division between Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

Speaking at the Sulaymaniyah Strategic Forum on Thursday, Talabani described the KDP’s actions in the Kurdistan Region parliament as a "political collapse in the history of Kurdistan," saying that shuttering the parliament prompted the PUK to no longer recognize the current legislature.

He added that the region is experiencing the reality of two governments and two administrations, accusing a minority within the KDP of rejecting any settlement that fails to meet its demands - even going so far as to block a meeting solely intended for a photo opportunity.

For his part, PUK senior official Mahmoud Khoshnaw told Asharq Al-Awsat that tensions between the two main parties "have begun to intensify day by day."

He added that hopes pinned on restoring ties following the regional parliament's November 4 session have dissipated, pushing both sides gradually toward a rift.

Khoshnaw said that Talabani’s positions, voiced on multiple occasions, are "conditional" and reflect, in his words, a commitment to safeguarding the region's entity, its constitutional rights, and the gains of the Kurdish experience.

He stressed that the current parliamentary makeup does not represent the entirety of Kurdish forces, but rather reflects the KDP's presence at a time when major Kurdish factions remain outside the legislature.

Nevertheless, he said the path to a settlement "is still not completely closed."

Criticism of US role

Among the issues raised by Talabani was his criticism of US envoy Tom Barrack's “intervention” in Kurdish disputes, stating that he disagrees with him and that the Kurdistan Region requires a fundamental resolution to its problems.

Talabani called on the US administration to understand the nature of the situation in the region, or to step back and leave the political forces in Kurdistan and Iraq to resolve their differences on their own.

He also rejected accusations that he is "under Iranian control," stating, "I am not in anyone's pocket, and I never will be," while adding that he is well-received whenever he visits the US.

Talabani praised Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, describing him as a young man with a businessman's mindset who is seeking to correct Iraq's course.

Settlement still possible

Political science professor at Mustansiriyah University Essam al-Faili told Asharq Al-Awsat that the crisis remains manageable, pointing out that Talabani favored a peaceful resolution while Barzani called for dialogue between the two sides.

He noted that Baghdad does not want the fragmentation of the region's administration.

The US is also engaged in the crisis, he remarked, saying that these factors keep the prospects for a settlement alive despite the sharp rhetoric between the two sides.

He explained that a core aspect of the dispute revolves around the distribution of sovereign posts within the region's institutions and presidencies, noting that both parties hold leverage over this file, which makes it amenable to a compromise between them.

On talk of the possibility of forming a separate Kurdish region comprising the Sulaymaniyah and Halabja governorates, constitutional and legal expert Dr. Saif al-Saadi told Asharq Al-Awsat that such a scenario is constitutionally unfeasible.

Journalist Montadhar Nasser told Asharq Al-Awsat that the internal dispute is deeply entrenched in the Kurdish political landscape, exposing a failure of institutional governance in the region as decades of efforts to unify the two administrations have fallen short.

He added that talk of establishing two separate regions may be premature, although he argued that such an outcome would better reflect reality on the ground and could resolve the ongoing debate over the nature of relations between the two parties.

Nasser suggested that this scenario could prove advantageous for Baghdad, as it would allow the federal government to deal with two regions separately, while giving both parties greater leeway to forge alliances with other political forces in the capital without being bound by conditions or restrictions imposed by one upon the other.

 

Arab World

IMF Says Its Staff in Lebanon to Discuss Banking Restructuring Strategy

A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)
A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

IMF Says Its Staff in Lebanon to Discuss Banking Restructuring Strategy

A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)
A man sits at the entrance of a money transfer company office in Beirut on November 10, 2026. (AFP)

The ‌International Monetary Fund has begun a staff mission to discuss the country's strategy for restructuring the banking sector, IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack said on Thursday, declining to say whether a preliminary agreement was imminent.

Kozack told reporters that the IMF's staff ‌mission in ‌Beirut was under way ‌as ⁠part of a ⁠close discussion with Lebanese authorities to underpin a comprehensive reform program to restore financial stability and support an economic recovery.

She said IMF staff would ⁠communicate at the end ‌of the mission ‌with any relevant updates.

Lebanese media ‌quoted Lebanese Finance Minister Yassine Jaber ‌telling reporters this week that the IMF mission would continue through Friday, adding his hope that ‌a preliminary agreement could be reached this week.

IMF Managing Director ⁠Kristalina ⁠Georgieva last month said there were "intense" discussions under way on support for Lebanon reflecting significant progress towards a loan program.

"We have made significant progress towards the program. We have still a bit more work to do together, and I'm confident we will be successful," she said at the time.