Gaza City, Gaza Strip – Palestinians cast ballots amid tight security today in their first parliament election in a decade – a cliffhanger vote on whether to pursue peace or confrontation with Israel.
The battle between the ruling Fatah Party and its Islamic Hamas rival was sure to tilt the balance of a Middle East torn between reform and traditionalism. But concerns over lawlessness, corruption and unemployment also weighed on voters’ minds.
Both Hamas and Fatah were confident of victory, but pollsters said the race was too close to call. Despite the bitter rivalry, both parties said they would consider a coalition if no clear victor emerges.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. across the West Bank and Gaza, with some 1.3 million voters eligible to choose a 132-member parliament.
Hamas’ campaign has been well organized, focusing on internal issues like improved public services and cleaner government, while Fatah has been plagued by disarray and infighting.
Those differences were evident at a polling station in the upscale Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City where about a dozen Hamas activists, wearing the group’s trademark green hats and bandannas, greeted voters. The volunteers held computerized lists of voters and assigned volunteer drivers to transport supporters to the station. Fatah activists were nowhere to be seen.
Hamas organizers said they planned a similar presence at every polling station in Gaza.
Some 13,000 police officers were deployed at 1,008 polling stations, taking up positions on rooftops and at entrances to enforce a weapons ban.
Rival militant groups pledged to keep their guns out of sight today, but several pre-election skirmishes and two killings, including the shooting of a Fatah politician in internal fighting Tuesday, kept security forces on alert. Palestinian police arrested eight Fatah activists early today in connection with the killing, security officials said.
Pollsters predicted a turnout of at least 75 percent.
