PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS: ELECTION DAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000345 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS KDEM KPAL KWBG IS SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS: ELECTION DAY SITREP # 3 AS OF 2:30 PM, JANUARY 25, 2006 REF: A. JERUSALEM 340 ¶B. JERUSALEM 338 ¶C. JERUSALEM 00324 Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) As of 2:30 pm local time, PLC elections continued to go smoothly with 45 percent voter turnout in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip after seven and a half hours of voting. CEC Chairman Hanna Nasser estimated that voter turnout would be 75-80 percent by the end of the day and predicted that polls would be kept open another two hours. He said that ballot counting should be completed 12 hours after polls closed. Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki expected Fatah to win the elections by 47 percent. While most polling stations were calm in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the atmosphere was more tense where parties were allowed to campaign outside the polling stations. Several unconfirmed security incidents were reported in the Gaza Strip, including two shootings and a hand grenade detonated in a polling station. All the major pan-Arab stations and Palestinian stations continued running non-stop coverage of the elections, broadcasting from various polling stations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Coverage of East Jerusalem has been limited to the Salah Ed-Din Post Office polling station. End summary. ELECTIONS CONTINUE TO GO SMOOTHLY -------------- ¶2. (C) By mid-day, voter turnout in Ramallah approached 50 percent of eligible voters. National Democratic Institute (NDI) observers expected voter participation in Ramallah to be between 85-90 percent by the end of the day. Hamidei Bilal of the United Nations Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza told PolOff that voter turnout in the Gaza Strip had been high and relatively peaceful. Deputy Finance Minister Jihad al-Wazir related to EconChief that everything was quiet and orderly in his neighborhood of Gaza City where he had voted. ¶3. (C) PolChief visited two polling sites in Bethlehem where thirty percent of the vote was in. He described the atmosphere there as peaceful and festive but noted the large number of security service members at the polling sites. He said political party agents were standing outside the sites handing out party literature. The Central Elections Commission (CEC) manager for the Bethlehem District reported that everything was going fine and that he did not anticipate any problems. CEC CHAIRMAN: ELECTIONS PROCEEDING AS PLANNED -------------- ¶4. (C) Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) and the Consul General met with CEC Chairman Hanna Nasser who said elections were proceeding according to the framework of the agreement and stressed that these elections would mean a major change in the political landscape and that "people will have to accept it." Nasser remarked that there had been a tremendous in-flow of voters throughout the day and that he estimated voter turnout would be 75-80 percent by the end of the day. He added that 92 percent of Palestinian Authority Security Force (PASF) personnel had already voted. Nasser said that he did not expect exit polls to close until 9:00 pm (an extension of two hours) and that ballots would be counted within 12 hours, by Thursday morning. He stated that ballot counters will want to take their time in order to avoid errors since, in many cases, the winner will be determined by 20-30 votes. ¶5. (SBU) At 2:30 pm, the CEC reported 517,000 had voted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, about 45 percent of the eligible electorate. 47 percent of eligible voters in the Gaza Strip had voted, and 41 percent in the West Bank. CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC EARLY SHIKAKI POLL ON ELECTION OUTCOME FOR FATAH -------------- ¶6. (C) Pollster Khalil Shikaki told Senator Biden and the Consul General, in a separate meeting, that he expected Fatah to win more votes than Hamas and estimated that Fatah would carry 47 percent of the vote, though he hoped that Fatah would get at least 51 percent of the vote. According to Shikaki, the worst case scenario would be for Fatah to receive 45 percent of the vote (with a 3 percent margin of error). Shikaki commented that he did not think the outcome of the elections would have an adverse impact on the peace process. However, he noted that the outcome could constrain President Abbas' choices. CARTER: NO IRREGULARITIES OBSERVED -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Former President Carter visited two polling stations in East Jerusalem earlier this morning and then traveled outside the Jerusalem municipality to an al-'Izariya (Bethany) polling station where he held a press conference. He then moved on to visit several polling stations in the Hebron area. According to the USAIDOff traveling with him, he and his observer party did not notice any irregularities at those stations. VOTING SITE PROBLEMS -------------- ¶8. (C) PolOff reported that the Mughtarbi al-Bireh School polling site, north of Ramallah, has been the tensest site visited so far in Ramallah. A large number of Fatah Tanzim members had stood near the front door of the site with a number of Hamas members nearby. PA security personnel there were tense and had tried to quickly clear out the parking lot. At other sites in Ramallah, plain-clothes security personnel were observed inside a few of the polling stations. Fatah/Hamas tensions continued to be evident outside several polling stations where they had been allowed to campaign. While both Hamas and Fatah had transportation to polling sites organized for supporters, the Hamas motorpool appeared more organized. SECURITY INCIDENTS -------------- ¶9. (C) The RSO received an unconfirmed report at 12:45 pm that an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade member had shot a Hamas member in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. A later unconfirmed report from the IDF stated that an al-Aqsa member in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip had shot and killed a Hamas member. The RSO also relayed an unconfirmed report that, in Gaza City, a hand grenade had been thrown into a polling place, but there were no reports of injuries. Neither the PA Police Control Room nor the President's Control Room had heard of these incidents when asked by the RSO. RSO reported at 1:45 pm that 500 al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade members, of whom 100 were armed, marched for an hour, without incident, Khan Younis in support of Faruq Qaddumi, who is not running for election, and against Muhammad Dahlan, who is running in Khan Younis. ¶10. (C) At 2:30 pm, the RSO received a report that an al-Aqsa member had tried to enter a Rafah polling station with his gun and was turned away. A similar incident was reported at another polling place in Rafah, this time with a Hamas member attempting to enter with a gun. He, too, was turned back. The 15 women members of Hamas detained earlier by Palestinian police for attempting to vote twice were reportedly released. MEDIA REPORTS -------------- ¶11. (SBU) All the major pan-Arab stations and Palestinian stations continued to run non-stop coverage of the Palestinian elections. All media outlets continue to broadcast from various polling stations in the West Bank and Gaza and to carry interviews with candidates, officials, and voters. In all cases, coverage of voting in East Jerusalem has been limited to broadcasts only from the Salah Ed-din Post Office polling station. (Note: Nile News carried an interview with a scholar from Al Quds University, who claimed Palestinian media outlets were prohibited from covering elections inside Jerusalem. End note.) -- Al-Arabiya carried a special live interview with Prime Minister Ahmed Quraya', who said he had been prevented by Israeli security forces from entering Jerusalem to visit voting centers. He urged all Palestinians in Jerusalem to vote. -- Al-Arabiya later aired a statement by President Mahmoud Abbas, in which he characterized the voting process as smooth. He expected all stations to close by 7 pm, as large numbers of eligible voters had already cast their ballots. (Note: Both al-Hurra and PBC estimated that 30 percent of voters had already visited polling stations. End note.) Al-Arabiya reported it would have preliminary election results starting at 7 pm. Al-Arabiya also hosted a heated debate between Fatah-affiliated PLO Chief Negotiator Sa'eb Erakat and Hamas leader Zahhar on corruption. -- PBC replayed President Abbas' January 24 address to the Palestinian people encouraging them to vote in the elections. In addition to on-location reports and interviews, PBC continues to carry images of Palestinians voting accompanied by national songs encouraging people to vote in the elections. PBC also reported that large numbers of Palestinian women have been voting. -- Al-Hurra reported that a polling station in Jenin had to close for three hours after a member of the Islamic Jihad members tried to vote. -- In interviews with Palestinians outside a polling station in East Jerusalem, the al-Hurra reporter spoke with both Palestinians who have chosen not to vote, as they oppose elections on the grounds that Jerusalem is occupied, and Palestinians who see the elections as a way to strengthen the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem. -- The official Egyptian station, Nile News, also carried continuous coverage of the Palestinian elections. WALLES