The Palestinian Supreme Court's decision to delay local council elections has resulted in an estimated $8 million debt and many questions about how those funds were spent and how they will be repaid.

Palestinian political circles were preoccupied with the local elections scheduled for Oct. 8 until the Supreme Court decided Sept. 8 to postpone the vote, in part because of disagreements over candidate lists between Fatah and Hamas. The court was expected to revisit the issue Sept. 21, but delayed any ruling until Oct. 3. 

"I expect that the decision to stop the elections will stir up social problems and lead to financial legal actions," Omar Shaban, the head of PalThink for Strategic Studies in Gaza, told Al-Monitor. "Some candidates resigned from their jobs and others sold their cars to secure the financial expenses of their electoral campaign." 

These expenses include amounts remitted by the candidates to their respective local councils to cover their unpaid water and electricity bills — which have been due for years — as required by Local Council Election Law of 2005 before they can run for election. The money also includes the amount the government pledged to give the Central Election Commission (CEC) in return for logistical support, including civil servants, transportation and telecommunication services, and office rental for CEC employees from the time the elections were announced in June, through Oct. 8.