Hamas allows elections commission to begin voter registration

Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh (R) with elections commission chief Hanna Nasser Hamas government in Gaza on Wednesday authorised the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) to begin voter registration as part of efforts to restart reconciliation, an official said ."We have agreed to start operations in the Gaza Strip and will move to West Bank next," CEC chief Hanna Nasser said, after a meeting with Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
Last May, Hamas gave the commission permission to start updating the electoral register, but then halted the work as reconciliation efforts with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority movement stagnated.
In recent months, the two factions have been taking tentative steps towards implementation of a reconciliation deal that includes the creation of an interim government of independents to pave the way for new elections.
Voter registration in Gaza, where the register has not been updated since the last elections in 2006, is a key part of implementation of the reconciliation agreement.
"We will meet with Hamas, Fatah and other movements to discuss the arrangements for registering voters and we hope to register them within a week to 10 days," Nasser said, estimating around 650,000 new voters in West Bank and Gaza.
In a statement published on its website, the elections commission announced that it hoped to complete registration by February 16.
Haniyeh's spokesperson Taher al-Nunu, speaking with Nasser after the meeting, confirmed the deal and said the Hamas government "would furnish all the facilities needed for the success of the commission's work."
Earlier, Hamas issued a statement confirming that a group of their detainees in the West Bank have been released by the Palestinian Authority, in another indication that the reconciliation agreement could finally be put into effect.
Hamas and Fatah, rivals who govern Gaza and the West Bank respectively, inked a reconciliation deal in Cairo in 2011, but implementation has stalled several times.
Earlier this month, Fatah's chief envoy on the reconciliation process Azzam al-Ahmed said the key to implementing the agreement would be for the CEC to start work by January 30.