Factions pledge calm for Palestinian vote

Iranian policemen and rescuers work at the scene of a bomb attack in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, dominated by ethnic minority Arabs, where a scheduled visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been cancelled at the last minute following the blasts yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The Palestinian Authority leadership, aware that a chaotic election will damage the case for statehood, has repeatedly appealed for all parties to respect the democratic process and the result is likely to have a profound impact on the future of the Middle East peace process.

But while foreign observers have been generally encouraged by the relative lack of violence in the lead up to Wednesday's poll, the overnight killing of a campaign staffer for the ruling Fatah faction in the West Bank city of Nablus underlined the potential for serious problems on voting day.

A spate of attacks on government buildings and the offices of the central elections commission in southern Gaza earlier this month had raised fears that the whole process could be clouded in violence.

The main armed factions including the military wing of the radical Islamist movement Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, loyal to Fatah, issued a joint statement, which called for all Palestinians to take part in the vote.

"We call upon all our people, regardless of their preferences and political affiliations, to participate widely in this democratic festival," it said.

"We assert that we will not allow any element to confiscate your right to vote and elect your representatives."

Abu Adham, a leader of Al-Aqsa, said the groups would support the police effort to guard polling stations but emphasised they would not carry weapons.

The groups "will intervene if certain people violate the ban on carrying weapons," he added.

Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has issued orders for security forces to confront anyone who tries to disrupt the vote with an "iron fist".

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, who oversaw last January's successful presidential election, predicted that voting would be peaceful.

"I would expect that these elections will be even better than the presidential elections," he told AFP.

"What is important is the credibility of these elections and that all parties will accept the results, whatever they are."