Palestinian conflict groups on Tuesday agreed on measures aimed at ensuring Palestinian elections are held as planned later this year and pledged to honor their results, a joint statement said.
Palestinian elections have not been held in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem for 15 years amid deep tensions between President Mahmoud Abbas’ s Fatah nationalist group and the Hamas Islamic movement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, and then Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas
(Photo: AP)
The two biggest truths – Fatah ruling in the West Bank, and Hamas ruling Gaza – were called for Monday in talks in Cairo to prepare for parliamentary elections on May 22 and a major vote on July 31. .
A joint statement at the end of the two-day session said the two groups and 12 other Palestinian groups, including the Islamic militant movement Jihad, pledged to “stick to the timetable” for voting and “respect and accept ”the results.
There has been widespread suspicion that the elections will even take place.
Hamas police during a vigil in Gaza City
(Photo: EPA)
Many Palestinians believe they are largely in an attempt by Abbas to reveal their democratic credentials to the new US President Joe Biden, with whom he wants to restore friendship after reaching a new level under Donald Trump.
At the Cairo talks, the groups agreed on the creation of an “electoral court”, with judges from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, to rule in any electoral legal disputes, the statement said.
They said Fatah police would protect polling sites in the West Bank and Hamas police would use them in Gaza, effectively freezing out more secret security services that could have their presence frightened voters.
Palestinian police guard outside Palestinian legislative council in Ramallah, West Bank
(Photo: Reuters)
Fatah and Hamas also agreed to release detainees detained for political reasons in the West Bank and Gaza and allow unrestricted campaigning.
Abbas, 85, announced the January election dates, and he is expected to run.
There are 2.8 million eligible voters in Gaza and the West Bank. The last ballot, in 2006, culminated in a landslide victory by Hamas in its first parliamentary elections. That established a power struggle between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank.