Hamas govt urges reform of elections commission
Published 5 July 2012 09:53
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=501477

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Hamas-led government in Gaza on Wednesday called
for the reform of the Central Elections Commission, and said the body
charged with updating the voter registry was imbalanced.

Hamas on Monday suspended the commission's work, a day before it was due to
start updating the electoral roll in Gaza. The move, a further setback to
overdue elections, was criticized by the PA, the PLO, factions and rights
groups.

In its weekly meeting, the government in Gaza said the CEC must be reformed
so it could start work, and called on Fatah to abide by its obligations
under the reconciliation agreement signed by the factions in May 2011.

Earlier in the week, Hamas said it suspended voter registration in Gaza
because of Fatah's ongoing detention of Hamas members in the West Bank. Both
parties had agreed to stop political detentions in the unity deal.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said the CEC was dominated by Fatah members,
effectively allowing the party to supervise the electoral process. The
commission's director Hisham Kahil responded that the 500 staff employed to
update the voter registry in Gaza were selected by the Hamas-run Ministry of
Education.

Meanwhile, ministers in Gaza congratulated Egypt's newly-elected President
Muhammad Mursi and stressed their commitment to full cooperation with Cairo
on political, security and economic levels.