Interior Ministry in Gaza affirmed its willingness for conducting local elections on time and exerting required efforts for its success.
Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Kamel Abu Madi said, in a press conference held Thursday in Gaza, that the ministry facilitated the elections committee’s works for achieving processes of registration and nomination. The Interior Ministry also met with central electoral committee’s chief and leaders in Gaza and Ramallah, he added.
Abu Madi announced the Ministry’s preparedness for securing electoral procedures and free practice of lists’ activities in accordance with the law as well as guaranteeing equal chances for all lists. The Ministry also submitted the lists of the PA Security apparatuses’ members to the electoral committee in order to arrange their voting on October 06, 2016.
On the other hand, Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) will defeat its rival Fatah in this year’s municipal elections in the Gaza Strip, a new survey has found, according to Anadolu Agency.
The survey, conducted by the Ramallah-based Arab World for Research and Development Center (AWRAD), showed that Hamas will grab 37% of municipal seats in Gaza against 32% for Fatah movement.
Leftist groups will get 9% of municipal seats in the Palestinian territory, while other Islamic movements will win between 6% and 16% of Gaza seats, it added.
The polls also unveiled that Fatah will snatch 34% of municipal seats in the West Bank against 33% for Hamas in the October 8 elections.
Independent candidates, meanwhile, are expected to win 19% of seats in the West Bank, the survey found.
The poll, which included 205 political experts, also found that partisanship and tribalism will be the driving factors in voting during the municipal election.
Hamas boycotted the last Palestinian municipal polls in 2012 due to ongoing differences between the Gaza-based group and the West Bank-based Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
