Municipal elections in Palestine

Today palestinians of the west bank and part of the gaza strip are voting for municipal councils. It would be interesting to see how fatah does in these elections. It looks like the new fatah leadership has serious legitimacy problems. Their handling of arafat's succession and their apparent renouncement to historic demands about the return of refugees, and the end of the occupation will surely affect their popularity among the population. How can the other palestinian factions benefit from this. Especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad? How about the secular opposition, mainly the palestinian initiative (al mubadara).

These elections will give the world a more accurate picture about the palestinian public opinion. And will be a real test for fatah before the january presidential elections.

We'll have a clearer picture in a few days time.