Defection fear imperils Palestine poll

THE PALESTINIAN Authority (PA) has set October 8 for forthcoming municipal elections to be held in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but these may not go ahead due to unsettling developments on the ground.

“The PA says it wants the elections to go ahead and that is the official word from President Mahmoud Abbas’ presidential compound in Ramallah,” said Professor Samir Awad, a political analyst from Birzeit University, near Ramallah.

“But that could well be lip service. It could follow that the PA doesn’t want the elections going ahead, knowing that its erstwhile political foe Hamas is gaining strength rapidly in the West Bank following recent events,” Awad said.

Several weeks ago, a leading member of the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades, an armed group pledging allegiance to the PA-affiliated Fatah organisation, to which Abbas belongs, was beaten to death by PA security members after he had been arrested and held in detention in Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

Ahmad Izz Halaweh was accused of being behind a shoot-out between armed Fatah gunmen and Palestinian security forces, which left two policemen and two gunmen dead.

Halaweh’s funeral was held on Sunday with thousands of angry Palestinians attending, according to the Palestinian news agency Maan.

“Palestinians are furious with the PA for a variety of reasons and there is no doubt that many Fatah members will defect to Hamas, not on the same scale as during the 2006 elections, but a significant number, thereby further weakening both Fatah and the PA,” added Awad.

Palestinian local elections are set to be held every four years, according to the Palestinian Electoral Commission. – ANA