At the close of the nomination period for the May 22 Palestinian Legislative Council, on midnight March 31, a total of 36 different lists were officially presented. The Central Elections Commission will review the lists by April 6, allowing anyone to object to them by mid-April. Lists must adhere to a set of regulations including the need for public officers to have resigned beforehand and no criminally charged person can run for office.
The last day for submissions witnessed high drama as a number of lists waited until the last minute to submit changes in names and ranking. The biggest drama that many feel will be a game changer was the decision of the popular imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to scrap his own movement’s official list and join forces with the recently fired former Foreign Minister Nasser al-Qudwa. The list calling itself Freedom will still be headed by Qudwa, but the No. 2 on the list is Attorney Fadwa Barghouti, the wife of the imprisoned leader. No. 3 on the list is another popular Fatah activist, Abdel Fatah Hamiel, who was a leader in the first intifada.
