Looks moderate, sounds moderate....

Abbas claims victory despite 'ballot bungling'

"Presidential favourite Mahmoud Abbas has claimed victory in the elections after exit polls showed he had won 66 per cent of the vote."

A few glitches, but the margin looks to be large enough for the international observers to believe they didn't affect the outcome. We'll have to see what the actual count shows.

Either way, apparently the turnout was quite large (heaps more female voters than usual) which lends a little more legitimacy and a touch of mandate to the victor.

Polls were kept open for an additional 2 hours to bump up the participation rate.

Abbas won't have much time to prove he is the right man for the job and continue to receive the current level of support. I'd suggest Israel is happy enough, hopefully they'll make a few concessions (could be an opportunity for Bush, too, but will he be interested?) in order to bolster his standing amongst Palestinians.

The extremists, for the time being, are doing little else but boycotting the election. Fair enough.


Abbas, Sharon & Bush at the Red Sea Summit, June 2003.