RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian municipal elections in the West Bank, scheduled for May 13, were dealt yet another blow when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) suspended its participation March 13. This comes following Hamas’ opposition to the elections, which will not be held in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas rejected the Palestinian High Court’s ruling on Jan. 31 to amend the electoral law.

The PFLP stance came in protest against what it described as the “Palestinian security services’ crime of suppressing a peaceful protest in front of the Courts Complex in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate” on March 12. The PFLP said its stance is a condemnation of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) trial of Basil al-Araj, before he was killed by Israeli security forces March 5, and attacking protesters with tear gas and batons. Their stance was also designed to denounce “the PA and security services failing to draw lessons from these assaults.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, in his capacity as minister of interior as well, decided March 13 to form a committee for an inquiry into the Ramallah incident headed by Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Mohamed Mansour. The committee, which has yet to complete its task, includes the membership of Ammar Dweik, the head of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, and Palestinian Bar Association Chairman Hussein Shabana.

The PFLP, however, did not perceive the committee to be sufficient, and stressed “the need to apologize to the Palestinian people and take serious steps, such as the suspension of those responsible for [crushing the protest] from work, until the committee completes its investigation.”