Palestinian municipal elections have taken place over the weekend for the first time since 2012, with ballots cast to elect 145 local councils.
The elections went ahead in the West Bank after disagreement between Fatah and Hamas, the ruling administrative body in the Gaza Strip, resulting in Fatah running virtually unopposed.
Fatah and Hamas were supposed to compete in elections last year in both the West Bank and Gaza. But with the rival factions disqualifying each other’s candidates, Fatah decided to hold the elections in the West Bank alone in a bid to renew its legitimacy.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that “the elections are happening without national consensus. Holding them in the West Bank alone, without Gaza, will cement division.”
However, Fatah Deputy Chief Mahmoud al-Aloul said: “No doubt this is the democratic life we have promised our people. Unfortunately this joy is taking place in the West Bank alone because Hamas is preventing the people from practicing this right in Gaza.”
Electoral commission chief Hanna Nasser said that 393,572 ballots were cast, representing “nearly 50 percent of voters.” This was comparable to voter turnout in the previous municipal elections. However, Ramallah and Nablus saw turnout of less than 40 percent and 21 percent respectively.
In Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city and a Hamas stronghold, Fatah won just seven of 15 seats. The new head of Hebron’s municipal council is Tayseer Abu Sneineh, the Palestinian Authority (PA) candidate who was convicted of murdering of six Israelis in a 1980 terror attack.
Fatah only won clear victories in Jenin and Jericho, whilst in Nablus, another major city, Fatah won 11 of 15 seats, but only after forming an alliance with Islamist candidates. Yet, in several other cities, Fatah were unable piece together enough candidates to field a campaign list, leaving local Fatah politicians to run as independents.
The Palestinians have been divided between rival governments since Hamas defeated Fatah in the 2006 legislative elections and violently evicted the latter out of the Gaza Strip the following year, leaving Abbas in control only of the PA in the West Bank.
(via BICOM)
[Photo: BICOM]