Lebanonwire.com | Fatah elections called off in Gaza, most of West Bank

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November 24, 2005

Fatah elections called off in Gaza, most of West Bank

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The ruling Fatah party was to go to the polls Friday to choose candidates for the January 25 Palestinian elections, but voting was postponed in most constituencies on the eve of the polls.

The primaries were called off, without a new date being set, in the Gaza Strip and areas of the West Bank because of "inadequate preparations", a Fatah official said. Nine of the 16 constituencies were affected.

The primaries for the first Palestinian legislative elections in a decade, were to go ahead as planned in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus and Tablus, and probably in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, he said.

Around 500,000 registered members of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's party are eligible to select 132 Fatah candidates, the maximum number of seats in parliament, from 800 nominees.

Sixty-six candidates have registered to run for Fatah in 16 constituencies in the West Bank and Gaza, with another 66 included on a party list under a system of proportional representation.

The Palestinian Legislative Council passed a new law in June increasing the number of MPs from 88 to 132, stipulating that half be elected under a system of proportional representation and half by traditional constituencies.

More than 500,000 Fatah members had signed up to cast their vote on Friday, to decide between 331 candidates in Gaza and another 460 in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

Party polling stations have been set up in schools.

Chief among the candidates are Marwan Barghuti, the jailed leader of the Palestinian uprising, civil affairs minister Mohammed Dahlan, foreign minister Nasser al-Qidwa and security advisor Jibril Rajub.

All candidates wishing to contest January's polls must present their candidacies between December 3 and December 14, ahead of an election campaign from January 3 until January 23.

Fatah, which has dominated parliament and the cabinet for a decade, is set to face a fierce challenge from the powerful Islamist fundamentalist movement Hamas in the elections, as the group contests its first legislative ballot.