Hamas big gain in Palestinian elections

The Hamas movement confirmed what was stated earlier by officials in the Palestinian Central Elections Committee to that it scored great success in the municipal councils in all the four Palestinian cities were the fourth round of the municipal elections took place. The areas are Nablus, al-Beera, Jenin, and Ramullah.

In a statement, the movement said it also scored successes in other municipalities in the villages and towns.

Officials at the Elections Central Committee said that the unofficial results of the voting shows that Hamas dominated the elections in Nablus to the south of the West Bank getting 73% of the votes, and thereby controlling 13 out of 15 seats in the municipal council of the city which is second in importance after Ramullah in the West Bank. Al-Jazeera satellite TV said that more unofficial results showed that Hamas gained control also of the municipal council of al-Beera city near Ramullah by winning 9 seats against 4 seats for Fatah and 3 for the Alliance Of The People Front with independents. One official at the elections committee said that Hamas got 72% of the votes in the city.

In Jenin, which is situated to the north of the West Bank, Hamas got 8 seats against 7 for the alliance of Fatah and the People's Front.

The results also showed that Hamas achieved important progress in several towns and villages in the Nablus area, while estimates indicate that Fatah was ahead of Hamas in other areas. The voting operations covered 40 municipal circles.

The USA criticized the participation of Hamas in the municipal elections. The spokesman for the US State Department Sean McCormack described the Hamas as having contradictory stances in being a terrorist organization, as he alleged, and in simultaneously wanting to take part in the political process.