Hamas major win of Palestinian elections
Palestine, Politics, 1/26/2006

One official in Hamas movement said today that according to the preliminary selection, Hamas has won the parliamentary majority at the Palestinian parliamentary elections.

However, preliminary results of the Palestinian legislative elections which took place on Wednesday and attended by 77% of the persons eligible to vote, are expected to appear as from today, amid contradicting statements over the results of the public opinion polls.

The vote counting started as soon as the voting process ended, with the exception of ballot centers in Jerusalem where the voting was extended for two hours.

The election committee said that generally speaking, the voting was held calmly without complaints worthy to be mentioned, while the European parliamentarian and observer Francis Warts said that the elections were held without any serious problems.

The spokesman for the Palestinian ministry of the Interior Tawfiq Abu Khousa said that no violations were reported, except isolated incidents in Gaza where supporters for Hamas threw stones at certain election centers in north of the sector while minor friction was observed in other centers in Gaza.

Haaretz.com reported today that "unofficial election results indicate a crushing victory for Hamas, which seems to have garnered an absolute parliamentary majority after cleaning up in almost every constituency. The unconfirmed results show that Hamas has captured almost all of the 16 constituencies in the West Bank and Gaza, in particular the Jerusalem district, where Hamas won all four seats allocated for Muslim candidates. Two seats are also reserved for Christian delegates in Jerusalem," and that Hamas would like a coalition government.

The Guardian.com reported that the Palestinian Prime minister Ahmad Qurei has resigned along with his cabinet, paving the way for Hamas to lead saying "This is the choice of the people. It should be respected."

Also, "President Mahmoud Abbas called on all the factions to behave in a responsible manner, adhere to law and order, and to accept the Palestinian people's choice in elections," the Palestinian official news agency said.

On the foreign relations level, the leadership of Hamas of the Palestinian government will be an issue to the US government and Israel, who had sworn not to deal with the Hamas, which they both call as "a terrorist" organization, which may pose a dilemma for the US and Israel.

Previous Stories:
  NYTimes: Olmert backs creation of Palestinian state   (1/25/2006)
  Palestinians vote amid tight security measures   (1/25/2006)
  Abbas receives Carter   (1/24/2006)
  Israel bans Hamas from Palestinian elections in East Jerusalem   (1/17/2006)
  American warning against Hamas participation in Palestinian legislative elections   (1/17/2006)

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