oh me oh my.. democracy speaks with a strong voice and what will the cons do now--
Palestinian Prime Minister Qureia Quits as Hamas Claims Victory
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia resigned to clear the way for Hamas, an Islamic group that rejects peace with Israel in favor of suicide bombings and other violence, to form the next government.
Qureia, 68, tendered his resignation today to President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, Palestinian officials, who asked not to be named, said. Ismael Hania, a Hamas leader, told Palestinian radio that initial results from yesterday's general elections showed Hamas had won more than 70 seats on the 132-member Palestinian Legislative Council, pushing the ruling Fatah Party into second place.
``Because America and Israel wanted to vote against Hamas, the Palestinian people voted for Hamas,'' he said before news of Qureia's resignation. ``We will hold talks with our brothers in the Palestinian factions, with President Abu Mazen and the Fatah movement, because we are partners in this political arena.''
Hamas, running for the first time in national elections, vowed to fight corruption and lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. While it moderated its stance toward Israel, not mentioning its goal of destroying the Jewish state in its official platform, the movement says it won't give up its arms.
Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said today that the ruling Fatah will get more than 70 seats because exit surveys didn't count about 59,000 security personnel that voted in a special ballot before yesterday's elections.
The Central Elections Commission said it will probably hold a news conference at about noon to discuss the results. The Hamas victory claim came as exit polls gave Fatah an edge.
Fatah Forecast
Fatah, the party founded by the late Yasser Arafat and supported by the U.S. government, got 42 percent of the ballots cast in the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday, compared with 35 percent for the Hamas-supported Change and Reform list of candidates, according to a poll by the independent Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
The showing by Hamas demonstrated the depth of support for the rejectionist movement in the face of repeated assertions by Israeli and U.S. officials that Hamas can't be allowed to join the governing Palestinian Authority as it tries to build the foundation for a future state.
Fatah supports a return to talks with Israel, though it insisted that Hamas also be allowed to run in elections and that it may join the next government, or even form it.
Abbas Call
``We need the world's support to help us get back to the negotiating table with the Israeli side in order to renew the peace process and implement what hadn't been implemented,'' Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a leader of Fatah, told reporters yesterday at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah after seeing the exit polls.
Hamas, an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Front, has staged 58 suicide bombings against Israeli targets in the past five years and repeatedly refused to renounce violence. Fatah has dominated parliament since the body was first elected in 1996 as it has the rest of the Palestinian Authority. The party has suffered from disorganization and power struggles since Arafat died in November 2004.
Voter turnout was almost 78 percent, the Palestinian Central Election Commission said on its Web site. Voting was heavier in the Gaza Strip, where 82 percent went to the polls, compared with 74 percent in the West Bank, it said.
Hania said as he voted in Gaza yesterday that the movement had no plans to become a political party. It will work on parallel tracks of ``politics in parliament and armed struggle against the occupation as long as it hasn't ended.''
U.S. Refusal
In Washington, the Bush administration yesterday called the election a ``historic and significant moment for the Palestinian people,'' though it said it won't cooperate with Hamas. ``We do not deal with Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization. Under current circumstances, I don't see any change in that,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
About 1.3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza and Israeli-controlled east Jerusalem were eligible to vote, according to the election commission. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed 12 hours later.
Voters chose between 11 parties vying for half the seats in the 132-member parliament awarded under a system of proportional representation. They voted for 417 candidates running for another 66 seats representing districts. |
