Oman Al Khatib, a college student, attached much significance to the election for the top job of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) chief, also known as Abu Mazen, who bagged 66 per cent votes. He succeeds Yasser Arafat, who died on November 11.

“The election has proved that the Palestinian leadership is democratically and freely elected. Such a democratic election is not found anywhere else in the Arab world,” Al Khatib told ‘Khaleej Times’.

Yasser Yassin, a sales man, believed leaving out the Palestinian refugees living in Arab countries was a shortcoming of the political process.

“It (the election) is a good step towards the Palestinian state, but the new leadership has dropped Palestinian refugees from the political equation, which is not a good thing. This can create a grudge between Palestinians living on the occupied territories and the refugees in Arab countries,” Yassin said.

“Palestinian refugees have the right to participate in the political process. Counting them out of the political cycle is a way to say that they are not considered as Palestinians anymore and they are not welcome.”

Nour Al Malah, another college student, thought the days ahead were a crucial test for the new leadership.

“It is true that the Palestinian elections were democratic to an extent, but the importance lies in the upcoming phase. What is the new president going to do?” asked Al Malah.

“The late Yasser Arafat was popular because of his policies towards the Palestinian population and not towards the Israeli and American policy. The issue lies in the hands of Mahmoud Abbas. Is he willing to give priority to the Palestinian population or is he going to abide by the Israeli and American ‘Road Map’. It is a new challenge for the Palestinian leadership and hopefully it will succeed in controlling the situation.”

According to Moustafa Jomaa, an accountant, the task at hand for the new leadership was bringing together all Palestinian factions.

“The new leadership should work for strengthening the relations between the Palestinian factions before proceeding with the peace process. Again the new leadership should not be dragged into the mistakes of the earlier one. All Palestinians should be part of the democratic political system including Islamic and armed factions. We should put an end to the uncontrolled presence of weapons,” Jomaa said.