(San Francisco Chronicle) Matthew Kalman - A close look at the final results of last month's Palestinian election shows that Hamas' apparent landslide was, in the words of one analyst, "an optical illusion." In the vote for the national lists, Hamas received 44% while Fatah scored 41%. In the district elections, by running only one candidate while multiple Fatah candidates canceled each other out, Hamas won 45 district seats to Fatah's 17, with four independents. Yet Hamas candidates received only 36% of total votes while Fatah and other non-Hamas candidates won 64%.
2006-02-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive