The Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement, which was defeated by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in last month's parliamentary elections, chose its leader of opposition in the newly-elected Legislative Council on Saturday.

Sources in Fatah said that Azzam al-Ahmed, a legislator coming from the West Bank city of Jenin, was elected leader of Fatah in the parliament.

The sources said that 37 Fatah legislators out of the 45 participated in the voting which was held at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Al-Ahmed and Mohamed Dahlan, a senior Fatah member based in Gaza, competed for the post of the opposition leader, said the sources, adding that al-Ahmed won 20 votes while Dahlan garnered 17 votes.

Al-Ahmed told reporters after he was elected as the opposition leader that Fatah, which became the opposition in the parliament for the first time, would struggle to implement its policies.

Al-Ahmed also said that newly-elected Fatah legislators on Saturday discussed the possibility of Fatah's joining the new Palestinian cabinet to be formed by Hamas, but said that no final decision had been reached.

The long dominant Fatah movement, now led by President Abbas, suffered a crushing defeat in the Jan. 25 polls, securing only 45 seats in the 132-member parliament while Hamas garnered 74 seats.

Hamas has said it would form a government later this month after the recent-elected parliament is sworn in on Feb. 16. Hamas leaders have voiced hope to bring in Fatah into the new cabinet.

Source: Xinhua