Palestinian Authority sets municipal elections for October 8

Fuente: 
Ma'an News
Fecha de publicación: 
21 Jun 2016

The Palestinian cabinet on Tuesday, which meets weekly in Ramallah, have announced a decision to hold municipal elections on October 8, according to a statement released by the cabinet.  

The cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, appointed a central elections committee to start preparations for the upcoming elections and gave the local governance minister the responsibility of following up on organizing efforts and facilitating elections with the central elections committee.

It was unclear if the elections would include the besieged Gaza Strip, where Hamas has ruled since the movement’s victory in the 2006 general elections. 

However, head of the Fatah media committee, Munir al-Jaghoub, urged in a statement on Tuesday that the Palestinian government must commit itself to a unified election across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, adding that without the Gaza Strip the elections would be incomplete and emphasized the need for a "national united voice." 
 
The last local elections that were held in 2012, which did not include the Gaza Strip, were mired in allegations of corruption and political intimidation by Fatah officials and resulted in Hamas boycotting the elections. 
 
Political divisions between Hamas and Fatah were cemented following Fatah's defeat in Gaza's general elections a decade ago and the subsequent fighting that broke out between the two parties as both struggled to consolidate control over the small Palestinian territory.
 
Despite reconciliation efforts currently underway to unify the two factions, it remained unclear if municipal elections would include the participation of Hamas.
 
Ma'an News