RAMALLAH, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Central Elections Commission (PCEC) announced on Thursday that 36 electoral lists have been registered for the upcoming legislative elections scheduled for May 22.
In a statement, the commission said it has already approved 13 lists and the others will be decided on within the next few days.
Names of the approved lists and the candidates will be made public next Tuesday after which people will be able to make objections to any of the lists or candidates, the statement said.
The PCEC spokesman Fareed Taamallah told Xinhua that publishing the approved lists and candidates will continue for three days until next Friday to allow the public to check and submit objections.
"Complaints against the lists will be submitted to the commission and should be attached with legal reasons, and then we will study each compliant, with giving a possibility to appeal later to the elections court against the decisions of the commission," Taamallah said.
He said that working on the legality of each list will end on April 21 and then the approved lists can start their elections campaigns in the Palestinian territories from April 30 to May 20.
Meanwhile, the ruling Fatah party, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, registered its final list late on Wednesday night following debates and discussions.
Jibril Rajoub, secretary-general of the Fatah Central Committee, told reporters that the Fatah list, headed by Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputy leader of Fatah, was formally submitted to the PCEC and it includes members of the Fatah Central Committee and other figures.
Two separate lists of candidates will run against Fatah in the May vote, according to election officials.
One is a coalition between Nasser al-Qudwa, the nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, and Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader who serves life imprisonment in an Israeli jail. The other is formed by Abu Dhabi-based Mohammad Dahlan, who was ousted from the Fatah central committee in 2009.
Among the 36 competing lists is the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). The rest of the lists include left-wing parties, independent figures, youths and women.
In January, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced the 2021 general elections will include the legislative elections on May 22, the presidential elections on July 31, and the elections of the Palestinian National Council, the highest decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organization, on Aug. 31.
The last Palestinian presidential elections were held in March 2005, and the legislative elections in January 2006. Enditem
