Palestinians will vote in municipal elections on Thursday for the first time in twenty-eight years. Nearly 900 candidates are vying for local municipal leadership in the city of Jericho and in 25 villages throughout the West Bank.
140,000 Palestinians have registered to vote in the election.
Beyond the vote itself, the election provides a dry-run for January 9th’s balloting to elect the successor to Yassir Arafat.
Observers will also be watching to see how Fatah, the dominant faction until now, fares against groups such as the Hamas terrorist organization. Hamas is boycotting the presidential election, but has run candidates in today’s local balloting.
While its strength in the Gaza Strip is well known, how it stacks up against Fatah in the West Bank is a matter of speculation.
The last time local councils were elected was in 1976.