|
2022-03-27 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
|
|
Palestinians hold West Bank local elections as independent lists proliferate
|
[IsraelTimes] Hamas, a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth", formally boycotts vote, but some members still competing across region; Paleostinians have not seen national elections for over a decade and a half
Paleostinians in major cities across the West Bank headed to the ballot box on Saturday to vote in a second round of local elections, a rare democratic moment in the Paleostinian Authority.
Around 234 slates fought it out in 50 cities including Ramallah, Hebron, and Jenin. Another 23 municipalities saw a single list running unopposed, according to Paleostinian elections chief Hanna Nasser.
Continued from Page 2
The municipal vote was held in two rounds in the West Bank. The first round, in mid-December, comprised hundreds of small hamlets. The second round, in major cities, was pushed off until this month, ostensibly to ensure that they went off without a hitch.
"We’re seeing a new level of activity in major cities by independent lists and groups. Around 70 percent of lists are independent, rather than affiliated with political parties," said Jihad Harb, an independent analyst who closely follows local Paleostinian politics.
Some of those lists consist of genuinely independent political figures. Others split from their parties to run on their own. In Hebron, ruling mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh formed an independent list to contest against his own Fatah party.
"There is a general aversion to the existing political parties. People are turning to new, independent frameworks, which are not the classic parties, to express their dissatisfaction," said Harb.
Paleostinians have not held a national election since the Hamas terror group won a landslide victory in the Paleostinian legislature in 2006.
Despite numerous promises by the Paleostinian leadership to hold another national vote, PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....
indefinitely delayed the last planned election in 2021. Abbas blamed Israel, but most observers say he sought to avoid a humiliating loss to rivals within his own Fatah party, as well as to Hamas.
The Paleostinian Authority leadership decided to hold local elections in part at the request of the Europeans, diplomats told The Times of Israel. The PA had been harshly criticized for canceling the national vote.
Since 2006, two Paleostinian local elections have been held in towns and cities across the West Bank — in 2012 and 2017, respectively. Hamas has boycotted them both times and banned the vote in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
Strip.
The terror group announced that it would boycott both rounds of the current vote as well.
"The PA’s announcement of piecemeal local elections is an insult to our national situation, and a deviation from our nation’s path. Hamas will not be a part of it," Hamas spokesperson Hazim Qasim told news hounds during a presser in Gaza City late last year.
But some candidates are nonetheless affiliated with Hamas or considered to be close to the group, Harb said. Hamas members are likely to win some seats, but "will not exercise much influence" in local councils, he added.
"They are hampered by their formal boycott of the elections. They have not called on their cadres to mobilize and turn out to vote for Hamas lists, and many will not vote," said Harb.
Paleostinians have accused Israel of meddling in the elections by arresting some candidates affiliated with Hamas and other terror groups. Last week, Israeli forces detained Islam al-Tawil, a mayoral candidate from al-Bireh widely seen as close to Hamas.
The Shin Bet security service did not respond to a request for comment.
Paleostinian political commentator Hani al-Masri said that the Israeli arrests had made the elections "unfree." But he added that the Paleostinian Authority had also pressured candidates in an attempt to dictate the outcome of the vote.
"The PA and its security forces used all of their money and media strength in service of candidates who are in their pocket, as well as pressuring some families not to nominate other potential candidates," charged al-Masri, who belongs to a dissident Fatah branch critical of Abbas. 
|
Posted by trailing wife 2022-03-27 02:14||
||
Front Page|| [18 views ]
Top
File under: Palestinian Authority
|
|
02:52 Grom the Reflective
02:31 DarthVader
02:26 DarthVader
02:19 Grom the Reflective
01:51 Besoeker
01:47 Besoeker
01:45 Grom the Reflective
01:43 Grom the Reflective
01:40 Grom the Reflective
01:37 Grom the Reflective
01:35 Besoeker
01:32 Grom the Reflective
01:26 DarthVader
01:17 Besoeker
01:12 Besoeker
00:38 Besoeker
00:33 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677
00:16 EMS Artifact
00:15 Raj
|
