Palestinian Authority delays municipal elections

Palestinian Authority delays municipal elections

2011-05-18 05:58:46 GMT+7 (ICT)

RAMALLAH (BNO NEWS) -- The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday decided to delay the municipal elections, originally scheduled for July, until October 22, the Ma'an news agency reported.

The elections were postponed after the recommendation of the Central Elections Committee as it considered that it would not be possible to register all Gaza voters in time for the scheduled July 9.

The committee based its decision on the 2005 elections law which stipulates that elections must take place simultaneously in the West Bank and Gaza. The municipal polls were called in February by the Palestinian Authority (PA).

President Mahmoud Abbas endorsed the call and set July 9 as the date fro municipal polls and September for presidential and legislative elections. No specific date has been decided for the latter.

This was the second time in which municipal elections were announced. In June 2010, polls were called off just one month before voting date as PA officials determined that elections could not be held without participation of residents of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Hamas and Fatah, the party ruling the PA, have solved tensions in recent months culminating with the signing of an historic unity deal in early May. The two sides, along all Palestinian factions, are in talks to forming the new technocrat government, which will take responsibility of preparing new parliamentary and presidential elections.

Last week, Fatah said that the new Palestinian government will be formed within ten days. However, the factions have not even decided the continuity of current PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the unity regime.

Fayyad has been the PM of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank since 2007. He gained notoriety within Palestinian factions due to his state-building plan, launched in 2009 and scheduled to be completed in August.

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