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id="reader-domain" class="domain">http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/palestine-left-wing-united-local-council-elections-october-8.html#ixzz4GYfQM2Ip</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Hamas, Fatah no longer the only candidates
in Palestinian elections</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">Posted August 5, 2016</div>
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<p class="noScreen">Author: Moath al-Amoudi </p>
<p class="essay">GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The <a
href="http://www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2016/07/30/952383.html"
target="_blank">Palestinian left-wing forces</a>
announced their intention to run in the Palestinian
local council (municipal) elections slated for Oct. 8,
in a unified list of five parties. </p>
<p>This is the first time that left-wing factions run in
Palestinian elections as part of a unified list. In the
previous Palestinian legislative elections in 2006 these
factions <a
href="https://www.elections.ps/Portals/30/pdf/PLC2006-ResultsFinalDistributionOfPLCSeats_AR.pdf"
target="_blank">ran in separate lists</a>, such as the
list of Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa affiliated with the <a
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/zulfikar-suergo-interview-al-monitor-withdraw-political-life.html"
target="_blank">Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine</a> (PFLP), the Alternative list affiliated
with the coalition of the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Palestinian
Democratic Union (FIDA), the Palestinian People’s Party
(PPP) and the Independent Palestine list affiliated with
the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI).</p>
<p>In a July 28, 2015, interview with a PFLP-affiliated
website, <a
href="http://hadfnews.ps/post/18934/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D9%84%D9%80-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%81--%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%88%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%85%D8%B3-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%252"
target="_blank">Kayed al-Ghul</a>, a member of the
PFLP's political bureau, said, “The five left-wing
factions — the PFLP, DFLP, PPP, FIDA and PNI — agreed to
form a unified list consisting of figures affiliated
with the democratic current to participate in the Oct. 8
local council elections.”</p>
<p>He explained that the list will include candidates that
are competent and qualified to work in municipalities
according to a service-based program that reflects the
needs of the people and that makes positive and
constructive contributions by exploiting all available
resource in an optimal way.</p>
<p>Ghul added, “What is required now is to <a
href="http://alresalah.ps/ar/post/145156/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D9%88%D9%84-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%B5-%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%258"
target="_blank">break the acute polarization</a>
between Fatah and Hamas plaguing the Palestinian society
since the Fatah-Hamas dichotomy. This pushed the
left-wing forces to unite and provide a unified vision
with social dimensions that serve all Palestinians and
not a particular movement.”</p>
<p>In regard to the possibility of an alliance between the
left-wing forces and other Palestinian factions such as
Islamic Jihad, Hamas or Fatah, Talal Abu Zarifa, a
member of the DFLP’s political bureau, told Al-Monitor,
“Contacts were made by Palestinian factions to
participate [in the list] and form an alliance in the
upcoming municipal elections, but the left-wing forces
will not support or participate with any of those
factions, and will only run in the elections in its
unified list.”</p>
<p>On whether the left wing would gain a larger number of
the votes through the unified list, Zarifa said, “Every
stage has its specific circumstances. The 2006 elections
are different from the 2016 elections. Today there is a
[sharp internal] division and a deterioration of
services provided to the citizens. We should not build
on the number of votes obtained by the left-wing parties
in the legislative elections in 2006, even if this
serves as an indicator. The left-wing factions today are
running in the elections in a unified list. There is a
positive buzz in the media and the Palestinian street
about this list.”</p>
<p>Hanna Nasir, the head of the <a
href="http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=557020"
target="_blank">Palestinian Central Elections
Commission</a> had announced that the local council
elections in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the
outskirts of Jerusalem will be held on Oct. 8, and that
all requirements necessary to ensure the <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0Rh5Qug7c"
target="_blank">freedom and independence</a> of
elections in the West Bank and Gaza have been met and
the Palestinian factions are preparing their electoral
lists.</p>
<p>Walid Awad, a member of the political bureau of the
PPP, talked to Al-Monitor about the unified list’s
electoral program, saying, “We are preparing our lists
in the Palestinian cities in Gaza. We will encourage
youth and women to assume top decision-making positions,
especially since the municipal elections will pave the
way for holding <a
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/palestinian-municipal-elections-test-political-atmosphere.html"
target="_blank">legislative and presidential elections</a>
at a subsequent phase. We will set up services councils
and try to cut taxes. Taxes will be mainly collected
from large companies and allocated to implement
development programs and do justice to the workers and
the poor.”</p>
<p>Saleh Abdel Jawad, a professor of political science at
Birzeit University, told Al-Monitor, “No faction alone
can achieve a breakthrough in the municipal elections.
If the left-wing forces unite they can achieve some
[good] results, but on the ground, the supporters of the
left-wing constitute a small proportion of society and
even if these forces ran in the elections in a unified
list, they cannot achieve surprising results. In the
legislative elections in 2006, the left-wing forces ran
in separate lists and only obtained 8% of the percentage
of the votes and 8% of the total of seats in the PLC.”</p>
<p>All Palestinian political parties and factions signed a
<a
href="http://www.alquds.com/articles/1469376721845691100/"
target="_blank">Charter of Honor</a> on July 24 in
regard to the local council elections. According to this
charter, the parties shall see to the integrity of the
electoral process, avoid all hindrances, respect
freedoms and refrain from exerting any form of pressure
or intimidation, levelling accusations of treason or
atonement or committing violence against any of the
lists and candidates, and respect the elections results.</p>
<p>Hani Habib, a political writer for Al-Ayyam newspaper,
told Al-Monitor, “This is the first time the left-wing
parties run in the elections in a unified list. During
the previous municipal elections in 2005, these forces
were dispersed and failed, but this time the left-wing
parties have to face Hamas and Fatah and create a state
of balance by forming a unified list to compete against
them. This is the demand of all Palestinians supporting
the left-wing parties. This step — the first of its
kind — is important since it united the left-wing
factions.”</p>
<p>Analyzing whether this unified left-wing list would
break the <a
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/palestinian-local-elections-gaza-hamas-west-bank.html"
target="_blank">polarization between Fatah and Hamas</a>
in Palestinian society, Habib said, “All positions are
already taken, since the majority of the votes are
distributed between Fatah and Hamas and every citizen in
Gaza and the West Bank has well-known political
orientations. I doubt the left-wing list will obtain a
large number of votes.”</p>
<p>Writer and political analyst Talal Okal told
Al-Monitor, “The list will not be able to break the
polarization, as hoped by the left-wing leaders, but it
might get a larger percentage of the votes in light of
the adoption of the full proportional representation
system in the West Bank and Gaza according to <a
href="https://www.elections.ps/Portals/0/pdf/Election_Law_%282007-Sept_02%29-EN.pdf"
target="_blank">Law No. 1 of 2007</a> on general
elections. The list would be able to meet the 8%
electoral threshold and qualify to enter into genuine
partnerships after the results of the local council
elections.”</p>
<p>It should be noted that the Palestinian left-wing
forces <a
href="http://www.mesc.com.jo/Studies/Studies_3.html"
target="_blank">collectively obtained</a> less than
10% of the votes in the second Palestinian legislative
elections in January 2006, while some left-wing
candidates did not meet the 2.5% threshold for
individual candidates, which is the minimum share of the
votes required to secure any representation in a
legislature.</p>
<p class="noScreen"> Read More:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/palestine-left-wing-united-local-council-elections-october-8.html">http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/08/palestine-left-wing-united-local-council-elections-october-8.html</a></p>
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