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| PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE |
Ref: 172/2005
Date: 27 December 2005
Time: 11:30 GMT
The Election Appeal Court Decides Reopening Candidature for the Upcoming Palestinian Parliamentary Elections
On Monday, 26 December 2005, the Election Appeal Court (EAC), which held a session in Ramallah, decided reopening candidature for the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections, which will be held on 25 January 2005, for additional 6 hours to compensate the six hours lost on 13 and 14 December 2005, when the Central Election Commission (CEC) closed its offices. Accordingly, the CEC declared that it would receive candidature applications at its offices throughout the West Bank from 08:00 to 14:00 on Wednesday, 28 December 2005.
The EAC ruling was decided in response to an appeal submitted on 22 December 2005 to reopen candidature for the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary elections. The deadline for submission of candidatures was 24:00 on Thursday, 15 December 2005. The last hours before this deadline witnessed a series of raids by Palestinian militants related to Fatah movement on the CEC offices in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Nablus. These attacks were launched in protest to the way the list of candidates of Fatah movement for the elections was put.
In light of these differences, Fatah movement submitted two separate lists of candidates under the system of proportional representation. President Mahmoud ‘Abbas put the first list, which is headed by the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurai’. The list faced strong opposition in Fatah movement. The second list called “Future” is headed by Marwan al-Barghouthi, who is detained in Israeli jails. Fatah movement witnessed a strong debate in the past days regarding the efficiency of running for the elections with two lists in the face of the strong list of candidates of Hamas. Eventually, Fatah movement decided to merge the two lists into one. In light of this latest court ruling, Fatah movement will be able to run for the elections with one united list.
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