Editing Palestinian Authority (section)

===Political parties and elections===
{{elect|List of political parties in the State of Palestine|Elections in Palestine}}
From the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 until the death of [[Yasser Arafat]] in late 2004, only one election had taken place. All other elections were deferred for various reasons.

A single [[1996 Palestinian legislative and presidential election|election]] for president and the legislature took place in 1996. The next presidential and legislative elections were scheduled for 2001 but were delayed following the outbreak of the [[Al-Aqsa Intifada]]. Following Arafat's death, [[2005 Palestinian presidential election|elections for the President]] of the Authority were announced for 9 January 2005. The PLO leader [[Mahmoud Abbas]] won 62.3% of the vote, while Dr. [[Mustafa Barghouti]], a physician and independent candidate, won 19.8%.<ref name="Ref_p">{{Citation | title=PLO Chairman Abbas officially Wins Palestinian Presidential elections | publisher=PNA.gov.ps | url=http://www.pna.gov.ps/subject_details2.asp?DocId=1697 | access-date=19 February 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051217154505/http://www.pna.gov.ps/subject_details2.asp?DocId=1697 |archive-date = 17 December 2005}}</ref>
{{Main|2005 Palestinian presidential election}}
{{#section-h:2005 Palestinian presidential election|Results}}

On 10 May 2004, the Palestinian Cabinet announced that municipal elections would take place for the first time. Elections were announced for August 2004 in [[Jericho]], followed by certain municipalities in the [[Gaza Strip]]. In July 2004 these elections were postponed. Issues with voter registration are said to have contributed to the delay. Municipal elections finally took place for council officials in [[Jericho]] and 25 other towns and villages in the [[West Bank]] on 23 December 2004. On 27 January 2005, the first round of the [[2005 Palestinian municipal election|municipal elections]] took place in the [[Gaza Strip]] for officials in 10 local councils. Further rounds in the West Bank took place in May 2005.

Elections for a new [[Palestinian Legislative Council]] (PLC) were scheduled for July 2005 by Acting Palestinian Authority President [[Rawhi Fattuh]] in January 2005. These elections were postponed by [[Mahmoud Abbas]] after major changes to the Election Law were enacted by the PLC which required more time for the [[Palestinian Central Elections Committee]] to process and prepare. Among these changes were the expansion of the number of parliament seats from 88 to 132, with half of the seats to be competed for in 16 localities, and the other half to be elected in proportion to party votes from a nationwide pool of candidates.

{{main|2006 Palestinian legislative election}}
{{#section-h:2006 Palestinian legislative election|Results}}

The following organizations, listed in alphabetic order, have taken part in recent popular elections inside the Palestinian Authority:
* [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (''Al-Jabhah al-Dimuqratiyah Li-Tahrir Filastin'')
* [[Fatah]] or [[Liberation Movement of Palestine]] (''Harakat al-Tahrâr al-Filistini'')
* [[Hamas]] or [[Islamic Resistance Movement]] (''Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyah'')
* [[Palestine Democratic Union]] (''al-Ittihad al-Dimuqrati al-Filastini'', FiDA)
* [[Palestinian National Initiative]] (''al-Mubadara al-Wataniya al-Filistiniyya'')
* [[Palestinian People's Party]] (''Hizb al-Sha'b al-Filastini'')
* [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (''Al-Jabhah al-sha'abiyah Li-Tahrir Filastin'')

October 2006 polls showed that [[Fatah]] and [[Hamas]] had equal strength.<ref name="Ref_q">{{Cite web|title=Israel National News – Arutz Sheva|url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/|access-date=2023-02-20|publisher=Arutz Sheva}}</ref>

On 14 June 2007, after the [[Battle of Gaza (2007)]], Palestine president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] dismissed the Hamas-led government, leaving the government under his control for 30 days, after which the temporary government had to be approved by the Palestinian Legislative Council.<ref name="edition2007">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/14/gaza/index.html |publisher=CNN|title=Gaza |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725120721/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/14/gaza/index.html |archive-date=25 July 2008 }}</ref>