October Local Elections 'Only in West Bank'
Local Palestinian elections planned for October 22 will only take place in the West Bank and not in Gaza, a senior electoral source said on Wednesday.
Speaking to Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity, the official said the government had informed the Central Elections Commission (CEC) of a decision taken earlier on Wednesday to limit the elections planned for October to the West Bank.
"The elections committee was informed today by the government that it had decided to hold municipal elections only in the West Bank on October 22," he said.
The issue was the subject of a special government session earlier on Wednesday after the CEC sent a letter to say it was proving impossible to prepare for elections in the Hamas-run territory, the official said.
"We sent a letter to the government to say we cannot work in Gaza to prepare for the elections.
"Until now, Hamas has prevented the elections committee from doing its work in Gaza. Our staff cannot work because our offices are closed and they have confiscated our cars," he said.
Local elections had originally been tabled for July 9 but following a surprise reconciliation deal between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements which was signed in early May, the date was postponed until October 22.
At the time, local development minister Khaled al-Qawasmeh said the decision was taken on advice of the CEC, which said it would have been unable to organize simultaneous elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by July.
The West Bank and Gaza Strip are separated by Israeli territory. The coastal enclave is ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement, while the West Bank is under the Palestinian Authority, which is controlled by the secular Fatah movement. The two groups have been locked in a bitter dispute for years.
In late April, they announced that they were ending years of enmity and would jointly appoint a caretaker government of independents to prepare for general elections within a year.
But efforts to implement the unexpected deal have so far led nowhere, with each side blaming the other for an impasse reportedly caused by a disagreement between Fatah and Hamas over who will be interim prime minister.
The last time the Palestinians went to the polls was for parliamentary elections in 2006, which Hamas won by a landslide.
New parliamentary and presidential elections had been due to be held in January 2010 but the Palestinian Authority abandoned efforts to hold a vote after Hamas refused to organize one in Gaza.
Source: Agence France Presse
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