PA holding out hope for local election by year’s end

14 September 2016, 6:49 pm

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The Palestinian Authority hopes keenly awaited local elections slated for October 8 that were suspended last week will take place by the end of the year, foreign minister Riad Maliki says.

“For us it is important to stage the municipal elections because if we can pass this test it means we can also start seriously thinking about preparing parliamentary and presidential elections,” Maliki tells a news conference in Madrid.

“I hope we will see municipal elections by the end of this year,” he adds, speaking in Spanish.

A top Palestinian court on September 8 suspended the polls to choose municipal councils in some 416 cities and towns in Gaza and the West Bank following disputes between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements.

— AFP