On Thursday, the Central Election Commission, responsible for the upcoming Palestinian Parliamentary elections, decided to withdraw from the election process, citing interference by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei.
The decision followed an announcement by the Palestinian Council of Ministers that security personnel would vote inside Palestinian military instillations. After the CEC’s decision to withdraw, they held a meeting with representatives of various Palestinian factions in Ramallah, which also included factions in Gaza by video conference.
In a press conference held Thursday morning, the executive director of the Central Elections Committee, Amar Dweik, said that the decision to withdraw came after a disagreement between the Central Election Commission and the Prime Minister on the method by which Palestinian Authority Security Personnel would be allowed to vote.
The Central Elections Committee had proposed separate polling stations for Palestinian Authority (PA) security personnel, but that this proposal was unsatisfactory to the Palestinian Council of Ministers, who amended the ruling to read “Security forces will vote in their camps”.
The Commission pledged to continue working in an administrative capacity until the Palestinian Legislative Council Elections on the 25th of January.
