Fatah wins 51 Palestinian local councils: official

By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Abbas’s
Fatah party won 51 councils in Palestinian local elections with
militant group Hamas gaining control of 13, an official said
when announcing the final results on Saturday.

Of the 104 municipalities up for grabs in the occupied West
Bank in the third phase of Palestinian local elections, 40 went
to other factions, said Jamal al-Shobaki, head of the Higher
Commission for Local Elections.

The result is seen as a first indicator of voter sympathies
for the main Palestinian factions ahead of parliamentary
elections scheduled for January 2006.

“The electoral process was very successful and it was
praised by local and international observers … it is a
success for the entire Palestinian people,” Shobaki said.

He said the result was disappointing for Hamas, a group
bent on the destruction of Israel, while Fatah would probably
be able to take control in many of the councils where it did
not gain an overall majority.

“We expect Hamas to gain no more than one more municipality
while Fatah would probably form alliances with other factions
in municipalities won by others to increase their foothold,” he
said.

Shobaki said the voter turnout was 84 percent. A fourth
stage of municipal elections for the councils of major
Palestinian towns across Gaza and the West Bank is due to be
held later this year.

The performance of Fatah, which has been struggling to
overcome public dissatisfaction with corruption and
mismanagement in the Palestinian Authority, was better relative
to Hamas than in two previous rounds.

Hamas said the preliminary figures did not reflect its
grassroots popularity, noting that its candidates did not run
in some districts for fear of arrest by Israel.

Thursday’s ballot was the first Palestinian vote since
Israel completed its Gaza pullout on September 12. Hamas, which
is sworn to Israel’s destruction, boycotted the only previous
parliamentary ballot in 1996.

Hamas was the driving force behind suicide bombings against
Israelis during five years of a Palestinian uprising but agreed
to a truce in February at Abbas’s behest. It did well in the
two earlier phases of municipal voting.

Its popularity is underpinned not only by its fight against
Israel but its charity network and corruption-free image.