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| PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE |
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Ref: 54/2005
Date: 20 April 2005
Time: 10:30 GMT
PCHR Concludes Preparation for Monitoring the Second Stage of Elections of Local Councils
On Thursday, 21 April 2005, the election campaigning for the second stage of elections of Palestinian local councils will start. It will continue until Wednesday morning, 4 May 2005. The second stage of elections will be held on Thursday, 5 May 2005.
The Higher Committee for Local Elections had decided that the second stage would include 86 local councils, but elections of two of these councils were postponed. The second stage now, therefore, includes elections of 76 local councils in the West Bank and 8 in the Gaza Strip.
The first stage of the Local Elections began in 26 communities in the West Bank on 23 December 2004, and was completed in 10 communities in the Gaza Strip on 27 January 2005. According to plans of the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government, the third stage of election will be completed in 2005.
PCHR has concluded a training program for its observers who will monitor the elections of 8 local councils in the Gaza Strip on 5 May 2005. The training program has included training sessions on the Law of Elections of Local Councils; regulations of election campaigning; and monitoring the polling. PCHR has also sent applications to the Higher Committee for Local Elections to accredit 48 observers.
PCHR hopes that these elections will be free and fair, and asserts that it will participate in monitoring these elections. PCHR has significant experience in this field as it played an important role in monitoring the first stage of elections of local councils in the Gaza Strip held on 27 January 2005, and the Palestinian presidential election held on 9 January 2005, in its capacity as a local monitoring organization accredited by the Central Election Commission.
Public Document
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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 – 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org
