Palestinians begin registering candidates for first election in 15 years

Palestinians have taken another step in preparations for their first parliamentary election in 15 years, opening registration offices to admit the political parties and independent candidates that will take part.

Farid Taamallah, a spokesman of the Palestinian Central Election Commission, said on Saturday that officials had so far registered two electoral lists. 

Registration ends on March 31. 

The May 22 election in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza enclave is part of a broader push for reconciliation between President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and the Hamas that governs Gaza. 

This is seen as vital to building broader support for any future statehood talks with Israel, frozen since 2014.

READ MORE: Will elections bring change to Palestine?

Fatah-Hamas power struggle 

The last time a parliamentary ballot was held in 2006, Hamas emerged as the surprise victor.

A power struggle ensued, and in 2007, after weeks of fighting that left dozens dead, Hamas seized control of Gaza from forces loyal to Abbas. 

Abbas' authority has limited control over the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Some 93 percent of the 2.8 million eligible voters in the West Bank and Gaza have registered for the polling. 

The total population in the Palestinian territories is 5.2 million.

Israel has yet to respond to a Palestinian request to allow balloting to take place in occupied East Jerusalem, Palestinian officials said.

READ MORE: What does Hamas want from elections? Global legitimacy.

Israeli occupation 

Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem in a 1967 war and later annexed it in a move that has not won international recognition. 

It did allow voting there in 2006.

Unlike in the 1996 and 2006 elections, Palestinians will not be voting for individual candidates, rather for parties or lists that contain between 16 and 132 candidates.