VARIOUS: PALESTINIANS VOTE IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WITH PRESIDENT ABBAS' FATAH PARTY FACING STIFF CHALLENGE FROM HAMAS

Record ID: 328737

  • Title: VARIOUS: PALESTINIANS VOTE IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WITH PRESIDENT ABBAS' FATAH PARTY FACING STIFF CHALLENGE FROM HAMAS
  • Date: 6th May 2005
  • Summary: (W2) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (MAY 05, 2005)(REUTERS) 1. SLV VOTING STATION BUILDING 0.05 2. MV BALLOT BOXES ARRIVING AND BEING UNLOADED; BALLOT BOXES INSIDE POLLING STATION; PREPARATION OF VOTING BOOTH (3 SHOTS) 0.26 3. SLV ANOTHER VOTING STATION IN BETHLEHEM AREA; SCU SIGN READING VOTING STATION; MV INTERIOR 0.36 4. SLV MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM HANA NASSER WALKING WITH HIS WIFE 0.43 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) HANA NASSER, MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM SAYING: "This is a historical day, a very significant day for the Palestinian people because as you know they have chosen democracy to build their future institutions. Today we witness here in Bethlehem elections after an absence of twenty nine years since1976so the people are very anxious to practice their right to choose their nominees and to choose their representatives to the Bethlehem council." 1.19 6. MV BETHLEHEM RESIDENT VOTING 1.38 7. MV BETHLEHEM MAYOR VOTING 1.51 8. SLV VOTING STATION 2.12 (W2) KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA STRIP (MAY 05, 2005)(REUTERS) 9. MV MAN LOOKING AT LIST OF CANDIDATES; SLV POLLING STATION 2.13 (W2) BEIT LAHYA, GAZA STRIP (MAY 05, 2005)(REUTERS) 10. SLV INTERIOR OF POLLING STATION; MV WORKERS REGISTERING VOTERS 2.29 11. MV MUSHIR AL MASRI, HAMAS SPOKESMAN AND PALESTINIAN CANDIDATE FOR BEIT LAHIYA ENTERING VOTING STATION 2.56 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 21st May 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KHAN YOUNIS & BEIT LAHYA, GAZA STRIP/ BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA2UWQR2XSHD3TCDEB6N6WLZ3DR
  • Story Text: Palestinians vote in municipal elections with
    President Abbas's Fatah party facing a stiff challenge from
    Hamas.

    Palestinians voted in Gaza and the West Bank on
    Thursday (May 5, 2005) in municipal elections that shaped up as a
    face-off between President Mahmoud Abbas's troubled Fatah
    movement and ascendant Islamic militants.

    More than 2,500 candidates were vying for seats on 84
    municipal councils across the Israeli-occupied West Bank
    and Gaza Strip in what could be a test of sentiment over
    the halting pace of political and security reforms pledged
    by Abbas.

    "This is a historical day, a very significant day for
    the Palestinian people because as you know they have chosen
    democracy to build their future institutions. Today we
    witness here in Bethlehem elections after an absence of 29
    years since 1976 so the people are very anxious to practice
    their right to choose their nominees and to choose their
    representatives to the Bethlehem council," Hana Nasser the
    Mayor fo Bethlehem told Reuters.

    The vote will also shed light on prospects for Fatah
    and its main rival, the Islamic militant faction Hamas, in
    a July parliamentary election that Abbas counts on to
    bolster his mandate for peace negotiations with Israel.

    Balloting proceeded against the backdrop of a fragile
    ceasefire with Israel engineered by Abbas and seen as
    crucial by U.S.-led mediators to launching a "road map"
    peace process towards Palestinian statehood in the West
    Bank and Gaza. But tensions flared anew on Wednesday when Israeli
    troops shot dead two teenage Palestinian protesters and the
    Israeli government indefinitely suspended promised military
    pullbacks in the West Bank, citing Abbas's slowness to
    disarm militants.

    Analysts expected neck-and-neck races for the municipal
    councils as Fatah, dogged by perceptions of corruption,
    disarray and remote leadership, sought to recover from a
    trouncing by Hamas in a January round of voting in Gaza.

    Hamas, with street credibility based on its fight
    against Israel, religious piety and charitable services,
    also made a strong showing in elections for some Gaza and
    West Bank town councils a month earlier, although Fatah
    ultimately won more seats.

    Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction but has anchored
    the truce by militant factions after a 4 1/2-year revolt.

    A recent poll showed backing for Fatah slipped to 36
    percent in March from 40 percent late last year, extending
    a downward trend, while Hamas support rose to 25 percent
    from 18 percent.

    Some 400,000 Palestinians were eligible to vote on
    Thursday.

    The election got under way in a brisk and festive air
    in Gaza as flag-waving activists for various factions
    erected tents and greeted voters flocking to ballot
    stations.

    Hamas was running on the slogan "partners in blood,
    partners in decision-making". Some voters said they wanted
    more power-sharing after decades of Fatah domination.

    Abbas, who took office in January, has vowed reforms to
    root out corruption, replace unaccountable and incompetent
    officials and establish law-and-order. Last month he purged
    loyalists of late President Yasser Arafat in a security
    service shakeup.

    But there have been little tangible results yet on the
    ground, where lawlessness remains rife.

    In the recent poll, 75 percent of Palestinians were
    satisfied with steps Abbas had taken to revive a Middle
    East peace process frozen since 2000, and 62 percent
    believed he was serious about fighting corruption.


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