The Fatah movement has turned down a proposal made by the Democratic Reform Current, led by Mohammed Dahlan, to run on a joint list in the upcoming elections, Middle East Monitor reported on Tuesday.
Dahlan is a longtime rival of Fatah and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
A former security chief in Gaza for Fatah, Dalhan was ousted from the party in 2011 and fled to Dubai. His home in Ramallah was later raided by PA security forces.
Abbas has accused Dahlan of, among other things, collaborating with Israel to eliminate a senior Hamas terrorist in 2002.
Dahlan was sentenced in absentia in 2016 to three years in prison for allegedly embezzling $16 million while serving as a cabinet minister.
He remains in the UAE, where he is advising the ruling family on Palestinian Arab affairs.
The Secretary of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, Majed Al-Fityani, told Al Monitor that the Democratic Reform Current does not have any links to Fatah. "Its members," he explained, "are the reason for all the internal crises inside the movement."
The official added that everyone is able to run in the elections as long as they comply with the laws.
Dahlan has long been considered a legitimate threat to succeed Abbas as PA chairman. As such, Abbas has taken a series of steps to block Dahlan's possible return to a leadership position in Fatah. In one incident, Dahlan’s associates were not invited to the Fatah congress and Abbas’ associates were elected to senior positions.