The Chairman of the Central Elections Commission (CEC), Dr. Rami Hamdallah received today, Saturday, the foreign Ambassadors and Consuls to the State of Palestine, at the CEC HQ in Al-Bireh, in presence of the CEO, Ashraf Shuaibi.
Dr. Hamdallah thanked the representatives of foreign countries for their interest in following up the electoral process, where polling is taking place today in 183 local authorities across the West Bank and in the City of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, he pointed out the importance of the support the CEC received from international partners and UN agencies, which contributed to supporting its work, especially in light of the difficult financial situation the State of Palestine is suffering as a result of the Israeli occupation authorities withholding Palestinian clearance funds.
Moreover, the CEC’s Chairman introduced the guests to the proceedings of the electoral process and the challenges facing CEC’s work, while stressing the CEC’s perseverance in being able to overcome these obstacles and organize elections in the West Bank and in Deir al-Balah using available materials.
In addition, Dr. Hamdallah focused on the security and political conditions in the region, which are concurrently occurring along the stages of the electoral process, as well as the impact of the financial crisis, emphasizing the importance of international partners’ support to CEC’s work during and after electoral processes, meanwhile confirming the CEC’s keenness to continue strengthening such partnerships.
On another note, Dr. Hamdallah pointed out the accreditation of more than 170 guests and international observers along with thousands of local observers and electoral list representatives, which reflects the great interest in following up the electoral process, especially on polling day, guaranteeing its integrity and transparency.