Palestinians voted on Thursday in municipal elections likely to strengthen Islamist faction Hamas against President Mahmoud Abbas's troubled Fatah movement and hint at the outcome of a planned parliamentary ballot. The legislative election is set for July 17 but a senior Palestinian official said it could be delayed by disputes within Fatah over voting law amendments some feel could benefit Hamas. A deeper concern in Fatah is that it could get hammered by Hamas in the Islamists' first foray into general elections unless the vote is postponed to give Abbas more time to curb corruption and lawlessness as many Palestinians demand.
"We need more time to prepare," said a senior Fatah official. "There are no guarantees we can win against Hamas."
Hamas's West Bank leader, Hassan Youssef, said the group would insist the parliamentary election was held as scheduled.
More than 2,500 candidates were vying for seats on 84 municipal councils across the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip in what amounted to a test of sentiment over the halting pace of political and security reforms pledged by Abbas.
Analysts forecast Hamas would build on successes scored in initial rounds of local voting held in December and January.
Thursday's voting was held three months into a fragile cease-fire that Abbas forged with Israel and US-led mediators hope will revive peace negotiations aimed at a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas is anchoring the truce by militant groups after a 4-1/2-year revolt. But it is also sworn to destroying Israel, and big electoral gains by Islamists at local and national level would complicate Abbas's diplomatic agenda.
Some 400,000 Palestinians were eligible to vote on Thursday and turnout was high - 80 percent in Gaza and 70 percent in the West Bank as polls closed at 1600 GMT, the election committee said. Preliminary results were expected around 1700 GMT.
The election had a festive air as party activists identified by their flags - yellow for Fatah, green for Hamas, black for Islamic Jihad and red for small leftist factions - erected tents and greeted arriving voters.
Before this year, there had been no municipal elections in teeming Gaza since the end of the British Mandate over Palestine in 1948. All current Gaza town officials are Fatah appointees. Town elections were previously held in the West Bank in 1976.
Analysts expected close races for local government positions as Fatah, dogged by a reputation for graft, disarray and remote leadership, tried to rebound from its trouncing by Hamas in January in 10 Gaza municipalities.
Hamas, which previously boycotted elections, has gained popularity from its fight against Israel, religious piety and charity work for the many poor in the absence of welfare support from the Fatah-run Palestinian Authority.
Hamas also made a strong showing in voting for 26 West Bank councils in December, though Fatah ultimately won more seats.
Hamas candidates on Thursday ran on the slogan "partners in blood, partners in decision-making". Some voters said they wanted power-sharing after decades of Fatah domination.
A recent poll showed backing for Fatah slipped to 36 percent in March from 40 percent late last year, extending a downward trend, while Hamas support rose to 25 percent from 18 percent.
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