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Hamas makes strong showing in Palestinian election
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-26 08:51 ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN
Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, capitalised on
Fatah's internal division and its reputation among Palestinians for corruption
and mismanagement. Hamas has largely respected a truce for a year.
Supporters of Hamas gesture after polls closed
in a Palestinian election in the West Bank city of Hebron January 25,
2006.[Reuters] | Turnout was 78 percent of more
than 1.3 million voters and voting was peaceful and orderly despite weeks of
armed chaos, notably in Gaza, that had prompted fears of a delay.
The electoral commission said that results were expected to emerge from about
10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Thursday.
Israel has said future peacemaking will be in doubt if Hamas, responsible for
many suicide bombings during a five-year-old uprising, takes a role in
government.
Washington lists Hamas as a terrorist group and the State Department said it
did not want Hamas to be part of a new Palestinian cabinet.
U.S. President George W. Bush said he would not deal with Hamas unless it
renounced its stance on Israel.
Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar speaks to
journalists after he casts his ballots in Gaza City, January 25,
2006.[Reuters] | "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 told the Wall Street Journal in an interview before polls
closed.
ABBAS URGES TALKS
Abbas, elected a year ago after the death of Arafat, the iconic first
Palestinian president, said the Palestinian Authority was ready to resume
long-stalled talks with Israel even if Hamas joined his government.
"We are approaching a new period and we hope that the international community
will help us return to the negotiating table," said Abbas, welcoming the
peaceful nature of the vote.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shows his
marked finger after casting his vote at Palestinian Authority headquarters
in the West Bank city of Ramallah January 25, 2006.
[Reuters] | Officials said Hamas won about 30 percent of votes from the Muqata compound
in Ramallah where Abbas has his office and Arafat is buried.
Abbas hopes once Hamas enters parliament it might be prepared to relinquish
its weapons.
Despite signals this week that it might be open to indirect talks with
Israel, Hamas insisted on Wednesday that it would not change its charter or give
up its weapons.
Israel's interim prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said: "We will not negotiate
with a government that does not keep to its most basic commitment -- fighting
terror."
Voters chose from 11 party lists across the Palestinian areas and more than
400 candidates running locally in the first parliamentary elections since 1996.
About 900 foreign observers, led by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, were
present.
Israeli troops pulled back from West Bank population centres to avoid
accusations of interfering in the polls.
Olmert, in his first policy speech since he assumed the powers of Ariel
Sharon, who suffered a stroke on January 4, said on Tuesday he hoped the
Palestinians would elect a government ready to follow a U.S.-sponsored "road
map" to peace. Polls suggest he will comfortably win Israel's election on March
28.
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