Palestinian election results delayed
The Palestinian Higher Committee for Local Elections has postponed until Monday the announcement of the final results of municipal elections because not all the data was in.
The committee was supposed to announce the results on Sunday, but said the postponement “falls in line with the legal grace period given to it.”
The preliminary results of the second phase of Thursday’s local elections have shown a Fatah victory in a number of seats, while Hamas has won in major cities in West Bank and most populated areas in the Gaza Strip.
As part of the two movements’ debates on their achievements, four heads of election committees for the al-Aqsa list, which is linked to Fatah, held a news conference in Gaza to denounce what they called planned violations of the electoral process.
Results contested
Fatah contested the results of the municipal council elections in Rafah, where preliminary results showed a total control of Hamas which won 14 of the total 15 seats.
Hamas issued a statement saying it has contacted Egyptian officials over what the group called provocative actions by supporters of Fatah.
Hamas has also called on the Egyptian officials to intervene and put an end to such actions in order to maintain unity of the Palestinians, the statement said.
The movement said it has talked with the Palestinian Authority and Fatah officials about the issue.
Meanwhile, the executive committee for the Palestine Liberation Organisation has decided to designate Mahmoud Abbas to assume the position of head of the Palestinian state until convening the central bureau.
After meeting in Ram Allah, the committee said it would contact the head of the national council to ask the central bureau to name Abbas for the position.
The decision is intended to solve the problem of accrediting ambassadors by a head of state.
Opposition
Head of Fatah’s central committee and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Qaddumi opposed Abbas’ nomination, saying the executive committee has no right to appoint Abbas because this power can only be exercised by the National Palestinian Council.
It was the council that named the head of the Palestinian state in exile, the late Yasser Arafat and al-Qaddumi as foreign minister. These decisions later were confirmed by the central council of the PLO, the statement received by Aljazeera said.