Local elections were held in the Palestinian territories on 20 October 2012, with a second part to be held on 24 November 2012.Registration for the upcoming local elections is now open
Central Elections Commission A total of 245 village councils, 98 municipal councils and 10 local councils would be elected.

Background

Local elections had originally been scheduled for 17 July 2010. However, the Central Election Commission was unable to operate in the Hamas-controlled

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

, resulting in the Palestinian government announcing on 25 April that the elections would be postponed in the Strip. On 10 June 2010 the government announced that all local elections were cancelled.Local Elections, 2010
Central Elections Commission As a result of the cancellation, several lawsuits were filed against the government. On 13 December the High Court ruled that cancelling the elections was illegal. The government subsequently announced that local elections would be held in 2011. They were originally scheduled for 9 July, before being postponed until 22 October due to the political split between the West Bank controlled by

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and the

controlled by Hamas. However, in August 2011, they were postponed indefinitely. On 10 July 2012 the government announced that local elections would be held on 20 October.

Elections

Local elections were held in the West Bank on 20 October 2012, with a second part to be held on 24 November 2012. Fatah claimed victory after Hamas withdraw from elections. voting took place in only 92 of the West Bank's 353 municipalities. More than 80 villages were unable to produce candidate lists(a symptom, Hamas claims, of Fatah intimidation). In a further 181 districts, only one candidate list was registered rendering polling unnecessary. With 54.8 per cent of those eligible to vote turned out to cast their ballot Ms

Nour Odeh Nour Odeh is a Palestinian political analyst, activist, researcher, public diplomacy consultant, journalist, author and former spokesperson to Palestinian Authority. She was notably Palestine's first ever female government spokesperson. She is t ...

, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority said "We are still hoping that elections will be held in Gaza. A person's right to vote cannot be held hostage to any political faction,". Hamas Government in Gaza has refused to recognise the election "as a legitimate expression of the Palestinian peoples' will." The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights also questioned the legitimacy of the polls, "in light of the limiting of public freedoms and continuing widespread violations of human rights by the PA."

Results

Jerusalem Governorate

Abu Dis

Biddu

Jenin Governorate

Ajjah

Al-Yamun

'Anin

Araqah

Arraba

Bir al-Basha

Burqin

Fandaqumiya

Jaba

Jenin

Qabatiya

Raba

Rummanah

Silat ad-Dhahr

Zababdeh

Tulkarm Governorate

Attil

Bal'a

Baqa ash-Sharqiyya

Beit Lid

Deir al-Ghusun

Tulkarm

Zeita

Elections by Acclamation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2012-13 Palestinian local elections Elections in the Palestinian National Authority 2012 elections in Asia 2012 in the Palestinian territories Elections in the State of Palestine 2013 elections in Asia 2013 in the State of Palestine Local elections in Palestine