Palestinian leftists prepare joint list for elections

Five Palestinian left-wing parties announced on Wednesday that they will go into the local elections due to be held in October on a joint list under the name “Democratic Alliance”, Quds Press has reported.

The five parties are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Palestinian Popular Party, the Palestinian Initiative and the Palestinian Democratic Union (Fida). They announced the alliance in a press conference held in Ramallah.

A joint statement was read out by Qais Abdul-Karim, the Deputy Head of the DFLP. He said that the alliance would choose democratic, technocrat and independent candidates who are transparent and have broad social popularity.

The leftists said that their plan would give an “important push” to the electoral process and would “overcome the mutual polarisation which corrupts the Palestinian political process” at the moment. They noted that this would also lead to the end of the “destructive” internal Palestinian division and reunite the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Meanwhile, the five parties stressed the importance of holding the elections on time in order to end the division and pave the way for parliamentary and presidential elections.