Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian elections

 

 

Hamas won the January 2006 elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).  It won 74 out of the 132 seats to Fatah’s 45 (and others’ 13)[1].  It is universally agreed that these elections were free and fair.

 

The EU (and the US and Israel) has adamantly refused to accept the outcome of these elections and deal with governments led by Hamas formed on the basis of them.

 

(*)

 

In these elections, half of the seats (that is, 66) were filled through a national list system and half by election from multi-member electoral districts.

 

In the national list, Hamas won 44.45% of the vote (and 29 seats) and Fatah won 41.43% (and 28 seats). 

 

In the electoral districts, Hamas won 45 seats out of 66, compared with Fatah’s 15 (and others’ 4).

 

(*)

 

These days, the mainstream media often give the impression that Gaza is a Hamas stronghold and the West Bank is a Fatah stronghold. 

 

In fact, in the PLC elections, Hamas won 71% of the seats in the West Bank (30 out of 42), compared with only 63% in Gaza (15 out of 24).

 

(*)

 

After the mysterious death of President Yasser Arafat in November 2004, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah won the subsequent presidential election in January 2005.  Hamas did not contest this election. 

 

Shortly after that, Hamas announced a ceasefire.  A year later, in January 2006, it contested elections to the PLC for the first time and, as we have seen, won an absolute majority.

 

National List

In the national list system, Hamas won 44.45% of the vote (and 29 seats) and Fatah won 41.43% (and 28 seats). 

 

Change and Reform (Hamas)

440,409

44.45%

29

Fatah Movement

410,554

41.43%

28

Martyr Bu Ail Mustafa

42,101

4.25%

3

Independent Palestine (Mustafa

al-Barghouthi and Independents)

  28,973

2.92%

2

Independent Palestine

26,909

2.92%

2

The Third Way

23,862

2.41%

2

 

 

Electoral Districts

Hamas’ substantial majority arose from its success in the electoral districts, where it won 45 additional seats, compared with 17 for Fatah.

 

 

Hamas

Fatah

Others

Jerusalem

4

2

 

Jenin

2

2

 

Tulkarem

2

 

1

Tubas

            1

 

 

Nablus

5

1

 

Qalqilya

 

2

 

Salfit

1

 

 

Ramallah & al-Bireh

4

1

 

Jericho

 

1

 

Bethlehem

2

2

 

Hebron

9

 

 

Total (West Bank)

30

11

1

 

 

 

 

North Gaza

5

 

 

Gaza

5

 

3

Deir al-Balah

2

1

 

Khan Younis   

3

2

 

Rafah 

 

3

 

Total (Gaza)

15

6

3

 

 

 

 

Total

45

17

4

                 

 

So, Hamas won a substantial majority of the seats, both in the Gazan electoral districts (15 out of 24, that is, 63%) and in those on the West Bank (30 out of 42, that is, 71%).  In terms of seats won, the West Bank is more of a stronghold for Hamas than Gaza.

 

Of Fatah’s 11 seats in the West Bank, 4 (2 in Jerusalem and 2 in Bethlehem) were seats reserved for Christians, which were elected with much fewer votes than other successful candidates.

 

Why, when Hamas got only 3% more votes than Fatah in the national list elections, did it win so many more seats than Fatah in the district elections?  The primary reason for this is that the electoral system used in the latter was first past the post in multi-member constituencies.  So, for example, in an 8-member constituency, each elector could vote for up to 8 people and the 8 candidates with the most votes were elected.  In that system, it is possible for a party supported by just over 50% of voters to win all 8 seats.  Proportional representation it is not.

 

Aftermath

After winning the election, Hamas tried to form a broad-based national unity government, but Fatah wouldn’t play ball.  A Hamas-led government, with Ismail Haniyeh as Prime Minister, was formed in March 2006, and it received a vote of confidence from the PLC, as required by the Palestinian Basic Law.

 

(The use of the term “government” here is a loose one, since Israel is the real government of the occupied territories).

 

Israel, and those champions of democracy, the US/EU, refused to have any dealings with this government on the grounds that Hamas is a terrorist organisation.  Israel jailed those elected to the PLC for Hamas in the West Bank.  The government’s ability to function on the West Bank was minimal.

 

A year later, after the Mecca Agreement, a national unity government was formed with Fatah and other participation, again with Ismail Haniyeh as Prime Minister.  Again, Israel and the US/EU refused to have any dealings with it.

 

By refusing to accept the outcome of these elections and dismissing Hamas as a terrorist organisation, the US/EU gave Israel a green light to take military action against Hamas – which it has done continuously ever since.

 

Military coup?

A few months later in June 2007, if you believe the media, Hamas carried out a military coup in Gaza.  Since Hamas was the dominant element in the legitimate government, it is difficult to see how Hamas action to maintain the existing order in Gaza could be described as a coup.

 

In reality, Hamas pre-empted a US-inspired attempt to undermine the existing order in Gaza and destroy Hamas power there.  Anybody who doubts that should read David Rose’s article, The Gaza Bombshell, in the April 2008 issue of Vanity Fair.

 

 

David Morrison

March 2011

 

 

 

 



[1] All Palestinian election results can be found on the website of the Palestinian Election Commission.