Municipal polls: Fatah proposes, Hamas disposes

RAMALLAH: The Palestinian government on Tuesday set July 9 as the date for local elections in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, acting as upheaval rocks Egypt. The rival Hamas government that rules Gaza promptly rejected the move.

Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesman of the government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, said, “The government has instructed the Palestinian Central Elections Committee (CEC) to undertake needed preparations.”

Al-Khatib added that the elections would be held only in the West Bank if Hamas refuses to hold them in the Gaza Strip. The last round of local elections took place in 2005.

The elections have been postponed so far because of Hamas’ refusal to hold them as long as the reconciliation talks continue with President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement. Hamas wants the elections to be the result of a power-sharing agreement with Fatah as part of a broader reconciliation pact.

http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article254633.ece