Follow Feb. 21, 2021 March 31 is the last date to submit the lists running for the election to the Palestine Legislative Council scheduled for May 22. Presumably in that time the magician, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and his loyal associates will do everything to prevent what has seemed inevitable for the past weeks: a split in Fatah into two if not three parts that will compete with each other against a united Hamas slate. Nasser al-Kidwa – a senior politician whose name has been associated with reports of a faction contesting Abbas’ leadership – revealed the open secret, in an on-line symposium in which he took part, organized by Bir Zeit University. Kidwa, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, has in recent years been an internal critic of Abbas’ authoritarian control of Fatah and the PA. Last week he was absent from the Central Committee meeting, which was viewed as a forerunner to official confirmation that he is involved in an initiative to form another slate.