Ruling Fatah party fares poorly in vote

President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah Party posted a poor showing in Palestinian municipal elections across the West Bank, even though the rival Islamic Hamas movement stayed out of the race, according to results announced Sunday.

The vote reflected public discontent with Abbas and his Fatah movement, whose popularity has sunk due to a weak economy, nepotism in its ranks and its failure to lead the Palestinians closer to independence.

Saturday’s vote gave Palestinians a rare chance to cast ballots after over a decade without presidential or legislative elections. Abbas’ embattled party ran virtually unopposed, and Saturday’s election was seen as a litmus test of Fatah’s popularity.

But the results indicated lackluster support for the party, which has dominated Palestinian politics for half a century. In an indication of public sentiment, just 53 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Voter turnout in the previous municipal elections, in 2012, was comparable, elections commission director Hisham Khalil said.

In Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city and a Hamas stronghold, Fatah won just seven of 15 seats.

“The result wasn’t great for us,” said Tayseer Abu Sneineh, the head of Fatah’s list in the city.

In Nablus, another major city, Fatah won 11 of 15 seats, but only after forming an alliance with Islamist candidates. Turnout in Nablus was just 21 percent.

Fatah only won clear victories in two major cities, Jenin and Jericho. In several cities, Fatah couldn’t piece together enough candidates to field a campaign list, leaving local Fatah politicians to run as independents.

Roughly 2.2 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, of whom just over 787,000 were eligible to vote. East Jerusalem’s 300,000 residents didn’t take part in the elections.