Hamas decries Abbas overreach in setting local elections for spring
Hamas is digging its heels in over an amendment to the elections law that creates a new judicial body for electoral matters by refusing to participate in local Palestinian elections this spring.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian Authority announced Jan. 31 that local council elections will be held on May 13 in all Palestinian territories — the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem — in coordination with President Mahmoud Abbas.
However, Hamas said it will not take part in the process, as it believes it will deepen the internal division. The movement sees the step as an extension of a process that already failed when elections were canceled back in September.
On Sept. 8, the Palestinian High Court of Justice decided to cancel the local elections originally slated for Oct. 8. The decision followed a lawsuit filed by Palestinian lawyer Nael al-Houh, who demanded the elections be canceled over what he called the illegitimacy of the Gaza courts and their Hamas staff tasked with overseeing the elections.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Local Government Mohammad al-Jabarin told Al-Monitor that the government’s announcement came after judicial arrangements and amendments were made to Local Council Elections Law No. 10 of 2005. According to Article 1, the appeals courts were originally the district courts, called the Courts of First Instance. However, the article was amended based on a Jan. 10 presidential decree, and a new court tasked with examining appeals will be established when the electoral process begins.
