RAMALLAH, Jan 9: PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas was set for a landslide victory in the Palestinian presidential election Sunday with exit polls suggesting he had won some two-thirds of the vote.
Mr Abbas won 66.3 per cent of the votes cast while his nearest rival, independent Mustafa Barghuti, won 19.7 per cent, said a study by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research released after polls closed at 1900 GMT.
A second poll by Bir Zeit university gave Abbas an even bigger margin of victory with 66.1 per cent of the vote to Mr Barghuti's 18.1. Gunmen from Abbas's Fatah party were seen driving around the streets of the West Bank town of Ramallah firing in the air to celebrate their candidate's triumph.
Israel welcomed the result saying it hoped the victory of the moderate former premier in the race to succeed Yasser Arafat would usher in a new era of peace. Voting was extended for two hours after the central elections commission claimed that Israeli restrictions in the occupied territories had hampered access to polling booths.
However monitors said that by a large and large there had been no major problems with only the second ever presidential election and there were no reports of any violence. A final result is expected to be announced on Monday.
Mr Abbas said the vote should be a source of pride for the Palestinians. "This process is taking place in a marvellous fashion and is an illustration of how the Palestinian people aspire to democracy," he said after casting his ballot in the Muqataa leadership compound where Arafat is buried.
The conduct of the ballot even won praise from Israel, which noted that it was a rare example of democracy in action in the region. "I think to the best of my understanding and knowledge it's a democratic process and this in itself is enormously important because it's the only democratic process in the Arab world," said Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
With the outcome never really in doubt, Mr Abbas's main fear was that vast swathes of the electorate would heed a boycott call by the radical Islamist movement Hamas.
Although there was no official figure on turnout, foreign minister Nabil Shaath said that the extension to voting was partly prompted by large numbers wanting to vote late into the day.
Despite its call for a boycott, Hamas was making conciliatory noises. Mahmud Zahar, leader in its Gaza Strip stronghold, said his movement could have run a candidate if it really wanted to undermine Mr Abbas.
"We could undermine Abu Mazen and others by naming our representative... so our opinion is not to undermine. Our system is always constructive, not destructive," he told reporters.
Prime minister Ahmed Qorei said the election underlined the Palestinian people's commitment to the path of peace and democracy. "Today we have sent a crystal clear message to the world, to our people and to the region," said Qorei, who Abbas intends to reappoint as premier. "We, the Palestinian people, have shown that our choice is for peace and democracy."
Mr Barghuti took a less positive view of the proceedings, charging that there had been blatant irregularities and that the supposedly indelible ink marked on the thumbnails of voters could be washed off with water.
One of Sharon's senior aides said the prime minister was ready to meet the winner as soon as possible. Mr Olmert said that Abbas's real challenge was only just beginning, reiterating demands for him to crack down on militants.
World leaders said the emergence of a new leader represented an important opportunity to advance the peace process. "I think that for the first time in a long time we've got a possibility of progress here," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was poised to take a more active role in the Middle East following the election. -AFP
