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Exit Polls are out:
From the exit polls it appears Hamas has gained some major seats in the Parliament, but Fatah still finished above them. Though NEITHER got over 50%, making a coalition government necessary.
[q=CNN]According to one exit poll from Bir Zeit University, Fatah garnered 46.4 percent of the vote and Hamas won 39.8 percent. That translates into 63 seats for Fatah and 58 for Hamas, according to the exit poll.[/q]
[q=CNN]Election officials estimated about 77.7 percent of the eligible 1.3 million voters turned out to cast their ballots at more than 1,000 polling stations. [/q]
Though a cautionary tale:
[q=CNN]Election adviser Jarrett Blanc was pleased with the way the election was carried out, saying the Central Election Commission "met or exceeded" all the standards that were laid out for the vote.
He cautioned against placing too much emphasis on the exit polls because officials are using a complicated formula that has not been well tested around the globe.
"I would really urge people who are interested in the results to wait for the official results, which will hopefully come out tomorrow," he said.[/q]
(ie, formula to make Hamas lose big and Fatah win big
)
Interesting times.
Though the most hypocritcal thing:
[q=CNN]The results of the election were being closely monitored by the United States and European Union, both of which have threatened to cut aid if Hamas becomes part of the government.
"We view Hamas as a terrorist organization. We don't deal with Hamas. And under the current circumstances, I don't see that changing," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan was more cautious: "We'll see what the election results are. I'm not going to play a what-if scenario here."[/q]
So... you push for democratic elections, but will cut off aid if the 'wrong people' win? What kind of message does that give? Better off to stick with dictatorship strongmen in that case!!
From the exit polls it appears Hamas has gained some major seats in the Parliament, but Fatah still finished above them. Though NEITHER got over 50%, making a coalition government necessary.
[q=CNN]According to one exit poll from Bir Zeit University, Fatah garnered 46.4 percent of the vote and Hamas won 39.8 percent. That translates into 63 seats for Fatah and 58 for Hamas, according to the exit poll.[/q]
[q=CNN]Election officials estimated about 77.7 percent of the eligible 1.3 million voters turned out to cast their ballots at more than 1,000 polling stations. [/q]
Though a cautionary tale:
[q=CNN]Election adviser Jarrett Blanc was pleased with the way the election was carried out, saying the Central Election Commission "met or exceeded" all the standards that were laid out for the vote.
He cautioned against placing too much emphasis on the exit polls because officials are using a complicated formula that has not been well tested around the globe.
"I would really urge people who are interested in the results to wait for the official results, which will hopefully come out tomorrow," he said.[/q]
(ie, formula to make Hamas lose big and Fatah win big
)Interesting times.
Though the most hypocritcal thing:
[q=CNN]The results of the election were being closely monitored by the United States and European Union, both of which have threatened to cut aid if Hamas becomes part of the government.
"We view Hamas as a terrorist organization. We don't deal with Hamas. And under the current circumstances, I don't see that changing," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan was more cautious: "We'll see what the election results are. I'm not going to play a what-if scenario here."[/q]
So... you push for democratic elections, but will cut off aid if the 'wrong people' win? What kind of message does that give? Better off to stick with dictatorship strongmen in that case!!
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