Election Profile:

Flag of Palestinian Territories Source for election date

At stake in this election:

  • 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: President Mahmoud ABBAS
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister Ahmed QUREI
  • Assembly: Palestinian Territories has a unicameral Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) with 132 seats.

Description of electoral system:

  • The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term.
  • In the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), 66 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms and 66 members are elected by relative majority vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.***

*** The size of the PLC increases with this election from 88 to 132 seats.
This mixed electoral system was adopted on June 18, 2005. In the last election held in 1996, all members of the PLC were elected by simple majority on a multi-member constituency basis.

Main parties in the electoral race:

  • Party: Change and Reform*
    Leader: Ismael Abdel Slam Ahmad HANIEYA
    Seats won in this election: 74
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Fatah Movement
    Leader: Mahmoud ABBAS
    Seats won in this election: 45
    Seats won in last election: 68
  • Party: Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa
    Leader: Ahmad Sa'dat Yousif ABDEL RASOUL
    Seats won in this election: 3
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Coalition: The Alternative****
    Leader: Qais Kamal Abdul Karim KHADIR
    Seats won in this election: 2
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Independent Palestine
    Leader: Mustafa Kamel Mustafa BARGHOUTHI
    Seats won in this election: 2
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: The Third Way
    Leader: Salam Khaled Abdullah FAYYAD
    Seats won in this election: 2
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Freedom and Social Justice
    Leader: Ahmad Abdel Salam Hasan MAJDALANY
    Seats won in this election: 0
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Freedom and Independence
    Leader: Salim Ali Mohammad ALBREDENY
    Seats won in this election: 0
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Martyr Abu al-Abbas
    Leader: Omar Ahmed Mahmoud SHIBLY
    Seats won in this election: 0
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: National Coalition for Justice and Democracy / Wa'ad
    Leader: Eyad Rajab Ahmad ELSARRAJ
    Seats won in this election: 0
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: The Palestinian Justice
    Leader: Samir Sadiq Abdel Rahman QADRI
    Seats won in this election: 0
    Seats won in last election: N/A
  • Party: Independents
    Leader: N/A
    Seats won in this election: 4
    Seats won in last election: N/A

* The main component on the Change and Reform list is the Islamist Hamas Movement, which is contesting parliamentary elections for the first time.
**** The Alternative is a Coalition of the Democratic Front, People's party, Fida and Independents. In the last election, Fida secured one seat in the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Last Parliamentary election:

  • The last parliamentary election for the Legislative Council was held on January 20, 1996.

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 3,761,904 (July 2005 est. - combination of Gaza and West Bank figures)
  • Registered Voters: 1,341,671 (August 2005 - combination of Gaza and West Bank figures)

Last Updated on 01/17/2006