[Mb-civic] Hamas Makes Strong Showing in Vote - Washington Post
William Swiggard
swiggard at comcast.net
Thu Jan 26 02:42:50 PST 2006
Hamas Makes Strong Showing in Vote
Exit Poll Shows Party Winning Near-Parity With Fatah in Palestinian Assembly
By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 26, 2006; A01
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan. 25 -- Hamas won a large share of the vote
Wednesday as Palestinians selected their first new parliament in a
decade, but appeared to fall short of deposing the governing Fatah
movement as the leading party in the legislature, according to an exit
poll conducted in coordination with the Palestinian election commission.
The poll showed that neither Fatah nor Hamas achieved a majority in the
132-seat legislature, meaning that the next Palestinian cabinet will be
made up of a coalition of parties. But by gaining near-parity with Fatah
in the parliament, Hamas -- formally known as the Islamic Resistance
Movement -- will have a major role in the Palestinian Authority and
complicate efforts to revive a dormant U.S.-backed peace plan that runs
counter to the party's campaign platform in key respects.
The poll, conducted by Bir Zeit University, projected Fatah winning 63
seats and Hamas 58 seats, leaving the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine and an assortment of leftist and independent parties far
behind.
A second poll, by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research,
also conducted in coordination with the election commission, showed
Fatah winning 58 seats to Hamas's 53. But the poll said that at least
eight seats remained too close to call. Official results were expected
Thursday.
"We knew that Hamas had this strength," said Ghassan Khatib, the
Palestinian Authority's planning minister, who does not belong to either
party. "Having them inside the council, abiding by its laws and
regulations, hopefully will be better than having them outside. Now
competition will be based on legal politics, rather than outside the law
in the streets."
Election officials and observers reported no serious problems from
either Israeli security measures or Palestinian factional rivalry that
had threatened to disrupt voting in several cities in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. The officials said 77 percent of the 1.3 million registered
Palestinian voters cast ballots on a brisk day, far surpassing the
turnout in last year's presidential race.
In an initial assessment, a member of one international observer mission
described the voting as "a generally smooth process with only sporadic
violence and a robust turnout." The observer from the National
Democratic Institute/Carter Center delegation, who declined to be named
because of the preliminary nature of his evaluation, said his team had
received only isolated reports of problems with voting materials.
The only apparent violation, the observer said, was the active
campaigning that occurred throughout the day despite a Palestinian
election law that requires campaigning to end 24 hours before the start
of voting. But because all parties appeared to be violating the rule,
the observer said, "at this point it doesn't appear to be a serious
impediment to the election."
The atmosphere was celebratory here in Ramallah, where cars bearing the
green banners of Hamas or the black-and-white kaffiyehs of Fatah jammed
the streets. Each party appeared to have well-organized efforts to
ensure its supporters made it to the polls.
The last parliamentary voting, in 1996, led to a Fatah-dominated
legislature, which has now been expanded by 50 percent. Mahmoud Abbas,
the president of the Palestinian Authority and leader of Fatah,
postponed the elections in July to secure an election law more favorable
to his party.
At the El Bireh Girls Secondary School, Hamas supporters set up a card
table with a bound voter-registration list and laptop computer loaded
with a database of all voters and their assigned polling stations. Hamas
activists said they were helping anyone who had questions, not just
those who supported their movement.
"I saw Hamas closer to the people, closer to the feelings and problems
of the people," said Hassan Hamudah, 44, a Hamas supporter who works for
the Palestinian Water Authority. "They are honest men. The others have
made many promises, but we have only seen corruption."
Hamas has built its popularity over the years through patient political
organizing, charity work and an unyielding position regarding Israel.
The party's charter calls for Israel's destruction, and Hamas's armed
wing has carried out numerous deadly attacks on Israeli civilians,
police and soldiers.
The secular Fatah movement is suffering from generational divisions and
a reputation for corrupt, ineffective government.
Abbas, who has threatened to resign as president if he is unable to
carry out his program after the elections, will now appoint a prime
minister who must form a cabinet approved by the parliament. Although it
is theoretically possible that Hamas could form the next government, it
is expected that Fatah would be invited to do so and join with the
nationalist and leftist parties to forge a parliamentary majority.
As the main faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, Fatah
joined with Israel to endorse the 1993 Oslo accords and the U.S.-backed
peace plan known as the "road map," signed in 2003. The plan has been
frozen because of the Palestinian uprising, but each side has pledged to
return to its phased framework for creation of an independent
Palestinian state.
Hamas, on the other hand, has pledged to maintain its military wing,
which Israel says must be dismantled before new peace talks take place
under the road map. It is unclear how much influence Hamas could exert
over a future peace process since it is not a member of the PLO,
although its strong showing could hasten talks to bring the group inside
the organization.
Hamas supporters say the party, which Israel, the United States and
Europe classify as a terrorist organization, will concentrate on
political and educational reform before moving on to issues of peace and
diplomacy. Israeli and U.S. officials have warned that its presence in
government could undermine diplomatic initiatives and imperil foreign aid.
President Bush, in an interview Wednesday with the Wall Street Journal,
lauded the democratic trend that produced the Palestinian elections but
said Hamas would not be a suitable partner for diplomacy until it
renounced its call for the destruction of Israel.
"A political party, in order to be viable, is one that professes peace,
in my judgment, in order that it will keep the peace," Bush said. "And
so you're getting a sense of how I'm going to deal with Hamas if they
end up in positions of responsibility. And the answer is: Not until you
renounce your desire to destroy Israel will we deal with you."
In a school adjacent to the al-Amari refugee camp, Ahmad Safi not only
cast his vote for Fatah but draped the movement's black-and-white
kaffiyeh across his shoulders against the cold.
"Historically, this is the movement that has given the most to the
Palestinian cause," said Safi, 42, who works for the Fatah-run Interior
Ministry and spent a dozen years in Israeli prisons.
Cars decked with banners and posters of Hamas green, Fatah yellow and
the red of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine clogged the
street in front of him. Many of the parties rented collective taxis to
ferry their supporters to the polls.
"They are secular and democratic," he said of Fatah. "The proof of this
is that we are now in pluralistic elections."
The Israeli police presence was heavy in Arab East Jerusalem, where
roughly 6,000 of the 120,000 Palestinians eligible to vote in the city
were expected to cast ballots. Israel's acting prime minister, Ehud
Olmert, agreed to allow voting to proceed in Jerusalem, which both
Israelis and Palestinians claim as their capital, but prohibited the
participation of Hamas.
Palestinian election officials extended voting in East Jerusalem for two
hours, saying long lines caused by Israeli security measures prevented
many from casting ballots on time.
In a statement issued after polls closed, Hamas officials accused Fatah
of rigging the vote in the city.
At the post office on Salahudeen Street near the Old City's Damascus
Gate, members of the governing party's youth movement chanted "Your
blood is Fatah" from the steps and passed out lists with the names of
the party's local and national candidates.
"It's good that all factions are participating in this," said Omar
Bazian, 56, a Fatah supporter from the Old City. "Never mind losing some
power -- this is a vote for the future."
On the other side of the separation barrier erected by the Israeli
government, a cluster of Hamas flags flew from the dome of a mosque
along the wide, worn avenue into the West Bank town of Abu Dis. The
24-foot-high wall, sealing what was once the main road from Jerusalem to
Jericho, is covered with candidate posters and graffiti, including "This
Wall Must Fall" in English.
"We're telling people Islam is the solution," said Radi Johar, 29, who
was passing out Hamas candidate pamphlets in the dirt street outside a
crowded polling station. "We are victorious, whether we win or not,
since we are raising the flag of Islam."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012500353.html
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