Fatah to hold May 27 polls for candidates to run in Palestinian elections

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The mainstream party Fatah is to hold internal elections in late May to select candidates to stand in the Palestinian parliamentary polls in July, a senior party member said Monday.
Rawhi Fattuh, the parliamentary speaker, told a news conference that the "primaries" would take place on May 27, after a two-week census of Fatah members.
He estimated that more than 500,000 Fatah members would be eligible to vote to select 132 candidates for the legislative polls on July 17.
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), or parliament, amended the electoral law last month, raising the number of deputies to 132.
Only 83 out of the 88 seats in the current parliament are occupied, as five deputies have died or resigned since the last legislative elections were held in 1996.
With 62 MPs, Fatah dominates the PLC although it fears Hamas could make major inroads in the elections which the Islamist movement is contesting for the first time.

05/02/2005 16:28 GMT