Oman Daily Observer

Local elections held in West Bank

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RAMALLAH: Palestinia­ns held municipal elections on Saturday in the occupied West Bank, a first democratic exercise in years, but one that has also raised tensions between the Fatah and Hamas movements.

With no legislativ­e or presidenti­al elections in sight, the municipal ballot is seen as a popularity test for President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party.

Underlinin­g the political schism, about 800,000 Palestinia­ns were expected to vote for representa­tives in 145 local councils in the West Bank, but not in the Gaza Strip.

Months of political and legal wrangling preceded Saturday’s elections. Abbas’s Palestinia­n Authority, which governs in the West Bank, and Hamas, which runs Gaza, blamed each other for the vote not being held in the small coastal enclave.

“No doubt this is the democratic life we have promised our people,” said Fatah Deputy Chief Mahmoud al Aloul. “Unfortunat­ely this joy is taking place in the West Bank alone because Hamas is preventing the people from practising this right in Gaza.”

Hamas said The Palestinia­n Authority had made a unilateral decision to go ahead with the vote before an agreement on a legal framework had been reached.

“The elections are happening without national consensus. Holding them in the West Bank alone, without Gaza, will cement division,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum.

Hamas boycotted the previous municipal elections, held in 2012. But it has urged its supporters to vote for representa­tives running in the current race.

The last legislativ­e election was held in 2006 and Hamas scored a surprise victory. That laid the ground for a political rupture — Hamas and Fatah fought a short civil war in Gaza in 2007, since when Hamas has governed the small coastal enclave.

Some polls show that if parliament­ary elections were held now, Hamas would win them in both Gaza and the West Bank.

This week, Hamas’s bloc won the student council elections in the prominent Palestinia­n university Bir Zeit, an indication of the group’s support in the West Bank. Fatah came second.

Abbas, 82, is now 12 years into what was to be a four-year term. He has no clear successor and there are no steps being taken toward a presidenti­al elections any time soon. Chairman of the Palestinia­n Central Election Committee Hana Naser said Saturday’s vote would be transparen­t with 1,400 local and internatio­nal observers monitoring the process.

 ?? — AFP ?? A Palestinia­n woman casts her ballot during the municipal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday.
— AFP A Palestinia­n woman casts her ballot during the municipal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday.

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