The Palestinian Election Commission announced that it had received 15 electoral lists to participate in the elections scheduled for next May, including a list of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the dismissed leader of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, Muhammad Dahlan.
The committee stated in a statement, today, Monday, that it had accepted the candidacy of 5 lists, and it was officially informed of the approval decision, which are the "Palestine for All" list, the "Democratic Change" list, the "My Independent Youth Dignity" list, the "Wafa and Building" list, and the "Enough list." While the remaining requests are being studied.
The committee stated in its statement that the door for candidacy for the 2021 Legislative Council elections will remain open until midnight on March 31, noting that the initial detection of the lists and candidates will be officially announced on April 6.
Muhammad Dahlan, who was dismissed by Fatah several years ago, submitted a list to run in the elections under the name of the "Future" list, without being a candidate for it.
The Fatah movement led by President Mahmoud Abbas has not yet submitted its list to participate in these elections, and it is expected that it will present it tomorrow, Tuesday, or the day after tomorrow, Wednesday, before the deadline for accepting applications.
As for Hamas, it formally submitted its list under the name "Jerusalem is our date", at the headquarters of the Central Election Commission, in Gaza City, and Al-Bireh in the West Bank.
The movement’s spokesman, Abd al-Latif al-Qanoo ’, said in a statement to Anadolu Agency that the leader, Khalil al-Hayya, heads this list.
He explained that the list includes 132 personalities (equivalent to the number of seats in Parliament) from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including the occupied city of East Jerusalem.
The candidate for Hamas’s list, Jamal al-Tawil, told Reuters: “A list of its name is its connection to Jerusalem, in complete bias towards the causes of our people, particularly Jerusalem, which is targeted by the Zionist occupation with its measures, the displacement of our people and the offshoring of Jerusalem from its people.”
Al-Tawil, a resident of the city of Al-Bireh in the West Bank, explained that Hamas members in the West Bank are being threatened by Israel not to participate in these elections.
Lama Khater, writer and candidate for the movement, said that the percentage of women on the list is about 30%.
Lama told Reuters, in response to a question about her fear of Israel arresting her, "We basically do not seek prisons, nor do we like prisons. Al-Mayadin is more important to us than prisons, and as active people who have goals in the service of the nation, until they participate in this great national project."
According to a previous presidential decree, Palestinian elections will take place in three stages this year: legislative (parliamentary) on May 22, presidential on July 31, and elections to the National Council on August 31.
If the elections are held on time, it will be the first time in 15 years, when Hamas won the majority of the seats in the Legislative Council in the last general elections in 2006.
The Palestinian Election Commission figures show that about 2.5 million citizens in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have registered to participate in these elections, which will be according to full proportional representation, meaning that participation in them will be through lists only.