Prepared by: Hadeel Wahdan

Supporters of the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas, have once again won the majority of student votes in the Birzeit University student council elections, which took place at Birzeit University on Wednesday, April 26, 2000. The election results showed that the Islamic An Nahdah Bloc won 22 of the 51-seat student general assembly with 1,388 votes.

Supporters of the mainstream Fateh movement’s Jerusalem Bloc won 20 seats with 1,270 votes. While the pro-left Democratic Pole bloc, supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, won 7 seats with 452 votes, supporters of the Islamic Group and Student Union won one seat each.

The election was conducted in a free and democratic atmosphere. Following the elections, Islamist and leftist students separately celebrated their victories.

Eligible votes: 4114; total counted votes: 3391; invalid votes: 16; blank ballots: 51; manually counted: 28; voter turnout: 84.05%.

Last year's elections were also swept by the Islamic An Nahdah Bloc with a 23-seat victory, followed by the pro-Fatah Jerusalem Bloc, which won 19 seats. This year seven blocs participated in the elections, the highest since 1995.