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Gazans Hope Elections Will End Palestinian Stalemate

More than 300,000 Palestinians in Gaza have registered for the upcoming elections, a sign that Gazans are desperate for an end to the political paralysis, writes Mohammed Suliman.
Palestinians update their details at a centre run by the Palestinian Central Election Commission (CEC), in Gaza City February 11, 2013.The Palestinian Central Election Commission on Monday began registering voters in Gaza and the West Bank for an upcoming election hoped to help with healing nearly six years of political rifts among rival factions.  REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3DMR0

Following several meetings held in Cairo in order to advance the reconciliation efforts between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah, the process of updating the electoral rolls kicked off on Monday, Feb. 12, in both Gaza and the West Bank.

While the registration voter records have been consistently updated on an annual basis in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank, it was the first time since 2007, the year when the Islamist party Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, that the Central Election Commission (CEC) operated in Gaza.

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