Hamas makes strong showing in Palestinian election
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-26 08:51

ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN

Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel, capitalised on Fatah's internal division and its reputation among Palestinians for corruption and mismanagement. Hamas has largely respected a truce for a year.

Supporters of Hamas gesture after polls closed in a Palestinian election in the West Bank city of Hebron January 25, 2006.[Reuters]

Turnout was 78 percent of more than 1.3 million voters and voting was peaceful and orderly despite weeks of armed chaos, notably in Gaza, that had prompted fears of a delay.

The electoral commission said that results were expected to emerge from about 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Thursday.

Israel has said future peacemaking will be in doubt if Hamas, responsible for many suicide bombings during a five-year-old uprising, takes a role in government.

Washington lists Hamas as a terrorist group and the State Department said it did not want Hamas to be part of a new Palestinian cabinet.

U.S. President George W. Bush said he would not deal with Hamas unless it renounced its stance on Israel.

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar speaks to journalists after he casts his ballots in Gaza City, January 25, 2006.[Reuters]

"A political party, in order to be viable, is one that professes peace, in my judgment, in order that it will keep the peace," Bush told the Wall Street Journal in an interview before polls closed.

ABBAS URGES TALKS

Abbas, elected a year ago after the death of Arafat, the iconic first Palestinian president, said the Palestinian Authority was ready to resume long-stalled talks with Israel even if Hamas joined his government.

"We are approaching a new period and we hope that the international community will help us return to the negotiating table," said Abbas, welcoming the peaceful nature of the vote.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shows his marked finger after casting his vote at Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah January 25, 2006. [Reuters]

Officials said Hamas won about 30 percent of votes from the Muqata compound in Ramallah where Abbas has his office and Arafat is buried.

Abbas hopes once Hamas enters parliament it might be prepared to relinquish its weapons.

Despite signals this week that it might be open to indirect talks with Israel, Hamas insisted on Wednesday that it would not change its charter or give up its weapons.

Israel's interim prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said: "We will not negotiate with a government that does not keep to its most basic commitment -- fighting terror."

Voters chose from 11 party lists across the Palestinian areas and more than 400 candidates running locally in the first parliamentary elections since 1996. About 900 foreign observers, led by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, were present.

Israeli troops pulled back from West Bank population centres to avoid accusations of interfering in the polls.

Olmert, in his first policy speech since he assumed the powers of Ariel Sharon, who suffered a stroke on January 4, said on Tuesday he hoped the Palestinians would elect a government ready to follow a U.S.-sponsored "road map" to peace. Polls suggest he will comfortably win Israel's election on March 28.