RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec 24 (AFP) - The mainstream Fatah party is on course to win most seats in the landmark Palestinian local elections despite a good showing by Hamas, according to partial and preliminary results Friday.
Local election commission spokesman Firas Yaghi told AFP that counting had been completed in 21 of the 26 municipalities and localities where elections were held on Thursday.
"Fatah is in the lead, followed by Hamas, some independents and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)," Yaghi said, adding that "Hamas are beating Fatah in some localities."
Some 84 percent of a possible 140,000 eligible Palestinians had cast their votes, he said.
Results of the first local council elections in 28 years, serving as a litmus test for next month's presidential ballot and of support for the radical Hamas movement, are expected to be officially announced Saturday.
The vote marks the first time Hamas has participated in the democratic process, turning the election into a test of its popularity beyond its powerbase in Gaza and in comparison to Fatah.
Hamas boycotted the first Palestinian general elections in 1996 and has also excluded itself from the January 9 election to find a successor to the late Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority (PA) president.
PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas is overwhelming favourite to win next month's ballot having been nominated as Fatah's candidate, while Hamas rejects the whole Palestinian autonomy process with Israel under which the PA was launched.
12/24/2004 11:45 GMT - AFP