Election officials to launch awareness campaign in Gaza

The central elections committee will start Thursday an awareness campaign to update the electoral register in 256 centers in the Gaza Strip, an official said Wednesday. Hisham Kahil, the executive director of the central elections commission, said that the campaign was the first such initiative to update the registers since the last local elections were held in January 2005. Kahil told Ma’an that the CEC will begin with audio and visual advertisements on local radio stations and Palestine and Al-Aqsa TV to inform the public of the importance of updating the register. CEC employees will distribute publications and posters in Gaza, he said. Kahil added that this phase aims to inform the community about the process of registering -- including basic information like schedules, conditions, objectives and registration centers. The official said that the ads would run next Tuesday and continue until July 14. He pointed out that government officials are the ones who determine the date of elections, not the CEC. Yasser Wadiyeh, a PLO leader, applauded the campaign as a positive step. He told Ma’an that elections are the first step to assure the Palestinian people that they live under a democratic system. Elections were not held in 2012 for technical reasons only, he insisted. Wadiyeh added that the “ball is in the Palestinian court” and the CEC should continue its work. Meanwhile the president should issue a decree to hold elections, he said. But Akram Atallah, a political analyst, said Egypt was the country to watch. The elections committee does not determine when or if an election is held, he noted. Instead, observers should pay close attention to Egypt's policy following the election of a president whose party is close to Hamas. The incumbent, Hosni Mubarak, was more closely allied with the West and Fatah.