Background:

Palestinians Elections took place in West Bank and Gaza Strip on 20 January 1996 for selecting the PNA president and 88 members to the legislative.

The first Palestinian Legislative Council members were elected on January 20, 1996 following the elections in which 672 candidates participated. The 1996 elections were conducted according to the electoral district system. The West Bank was divided into 11 electoral districts whereas the Gaza Strip was divided into five districts. The elections for the Presidency of the Palestinian National Authority were also held on the same day. Two candidates, Mr. Yasser Arafat and Miss Samiha Khalil, ran for the position of the President. Mr.Arafat won the elections.

Head of Palestinian Election Commission: Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen)

Nine thousands had arrived in 1996 election; nevertheless, we highly appreciate their efforts.

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Factions boycotted the Elections:

Hamas boycotted the first Palestinian general elections in 1996 because it was a result of the 1993 Oslo accords which the movement opposes. Hamas official, Ismail Haniyah, said; "We in the Islamic resistance announce our boycott and our non-participation in the presidential elections for the Palestinian Authority." Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine - DFLP boycotted the first Palestinian general elections in 1996.

Islamic Jihad Movement - boycotted the first Palestinian general elections in 1996.

Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine - PFLP boycotted the first Palestinian general elections in 1996.

Democratic Front For Liberation of Palestine - DFLP boycotted the first Palestinian general elections in 1996.

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Israeli reaction on Palestinian Election:

Israel has sealed off the West Bank and Gaza.
Israelis are cutting themselves off from what is happening in Palestinian society.

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Elections: Palestine

In 1995 the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was signed, to be in effect for five years. The treaty stipulated that elections would be held for both the executive official, the president, and for the members of the legislative branch. Among other things, the treaty explicitly details the organization, structure, and functions of the legislature, the scope of power of both the legislature and executive, and the protocol for elections.

The treaty also mandated that the Palestinian Authority create the Palestinian Central Election Commission (CEC) to administer the elections in accordance with the provisions of the electoral law. The CEC further created the District Election Offices (DEOs) and Polling Station Commissions (PSCs) to assist in carrying out the elections at the local level. In preparation for the 1996 elections, the CEC was actively engaged in voter education and registration activities. The 1995 Interim Agreement also specifies that the elections should be open to international election monitors. All phases of the 1996 election process, from the registration of voters, to the campaigning period, to the actual day of voting within the polling stations, were open to monitoring. The 1996 presidential and legislative elections were greeted with great international attention, and since then a number of reports have been published in myriad venues on the quality and accuracy of the elections. For the most part, the reports have been positive.

The Palestinian Elections Law No. 15 of 1995 sets out the candidacy requirements, as well as the election appeals procedure. The electoral process is determined according to the Electoral Law of 1995. The laws stipulate that election disputes shall be appealed to the Election Appeals Court, which is composed of the president and four judges appointed by the president of the Palestinian National Authority.

The legislative body, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), is composed of 88 elected members. The president serves ex-officio as the 89th member. Members are elected for five-year terms by the winner-take-all electoral system, from 16 electoral constituencies. Some seats are reserved for minority representation. In the 1996 elections, six seats were reserved for the Christian population, and one seat was kept aside for the Samaritans. Candidates in the legislative elections must collect 500 signatures of support and give a US $1,000 deposit to the Ministry of Finance. The president is elected from a single constituency, again by the winner-take-all electoral system. Whereas in legislative elections voters may cast as many votes as there are representatives from the voter’s constituency, voters are allowed to cast only one vote in the presidential election. Candidates for the presidential election must gather 5,000 signatures of support, and must give a $3,000 US deposit to the Ministry of Finance. Voting rights are granted to all Palestinians of at least 18 years of age on the day of the elections.

In the January 1996 legislative elections, of the 88 contested seats, candidates from the Harakat al-Tahrir al-Filistini, or Fatah, won 49, while another 15 seats were captured by independents affiliated with Fatah. The bulk of the remaining seats went to independent candidates, although a handful of seats were secured by independents with an Islamic affiliation. Rival factions to Fatah from within the PLO did not participate in the elections. To voice their rejection of the Oslo accords, some Islamists affiliated with Hamas also refused to participate. At the time that election procedures and protocol were being debated in 1995, there was some call by smaller opposition parties for the use of the proportional representation system, which traditionally allows smaller parties greater opportunities. The majoritarian system tends to benefit larger parties. For example, in the 1996 legislative elections, although Fatah received approximately 30% of the total votes, the party won 58% of the parliamentary seats. Conversely, the various independent candidates received approximately 60% of the vote but captured only 40% of the seats.

Fresh elections to the Legislative Council and the Palestinian presidency were scheduled for January 2003. In December 2002 these elections were cancelled on the grounds that they could not be conducted under conditions of military occupation.

On May 10, 2004 the P.A. decided to hold municipal elections throughout the year. The elections are to be held in stages in coming months, with the first to take place in Jericho by late August.

Source: Programme on Governance in the Arab Region – UNDP - POGAR

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Presidential Elections Results in 1996

	West Bank	Gaza Strip	Total Palestine
No. of Polling Stations	1,204	498	1,702
No. of Registered Voters	672,755	355,525	1,028,280
No. of Voters	453,587	283,238	736,825
No. of Valid Votes	423,728	283,238	715,966
Blank Ballots	13,243	-	13,243
Void Ballots	7,616	-	7,616
Voting Percentage	67.42%	79.67%	71.67%

 

	Samiha	Khalil	Yasser	Arafat
	No. of Votes	Percentage	No. of Votes	Percentage
West Bank	50,900	11.20%	381,928	84.20%
Gaza Strip	22,087	7.80%	261,151	92.2%
Total Palestine	72,887	9.98%	643,079	87.28%