2006 Palestinian legislative election
On January 25 2006, Palestinians voted for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the legislature of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Without counting the 2005 municipal elections and the January 9, 2005 presidential election, this was the first election to the PLC since 1996; since then, elections had been delayed several times due to the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinian voters in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem were allowed to participate in the election.
Final results show that Hamas won the election, with 74 seats. The ruling party, Fatah, only got 45, giving Hamas the majority of the 132 available seats and the chance to form a majority government on their own. Analysis of election results shows that the number of seats each party won agrees with their percentage of the vote for the 66 list seats. Hamas is overrepresented in the 66 district seats because it nominated more strategically than Fatah and did not have to compete with third parties and independents for the same voters' support.
The Prime Minister, Ahmed Qurei, resigned, but at the request of President Mahmoud Abbas, remained as interim Prime Minister until February 19, when Hamas leader Ismail Haniya formed the new government. The Quartet threatened to cut funds to the Palestinian Authority following the elections.
References
2006 in Asia
2006 elections
Politics of Palestine