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Source: Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) – France Press
On Thursday, Fatah and Hamas agreed to hold legislative and presidential elections within 6 months, which will be the first since the last elections 15 years ago.
Fatah Central Committee Secretary Major General Jibril Rajoub said: “We have agreed that the legislative elections for the Palestinian Authority will be held first, and then the presidential ones … the last of which is the Palestinian National Council. from the Palestine Liberation Organization for the next six months. “
The deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, confirmed that the agreement had been reached after meetings between the two parties.
Rajoub added: “The last stage of the elections is for all the Palestinian people in all places of their presence, and in which elections are held for the Palestinian National Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which in turn elects the organization’s executive committee for the next six months. “
The Palestinian Authority and legislative elections are restricted to Palestinians residing in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Oslo Agreement signed between the Palestinians and the Israelis in 1993.
Presidential and legislative elections have taken place twice since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. The first was in 1996 and Hamas did not participate in it, and the Fatah movement won the majority, and the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat was elected president.
The last presidential elections were held in 2005, in which the current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was elected president, and in 2006 the last legislative elections were held, in which Hamas won the majority.
The Palestinians elected the inhabitants of Jerusalem and nominated their representatives in occupied East Jerusalem in the last elections. Allowing them to vote this time will be particularly difficult, as Israel controls the city and prevents Palestinian officials from working there.
Tension prevailed between Fatah and Hamas after the elections and soon turned into bloody clashes. Hamas took military control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and expelled Fatah from it. Abbas’s rule is now limited to the West Bank, which is occupied by Israel.
After more than 10 years, this summer the reconciliation between the two factions was announced to confront an Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank.
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