Belying fears of violence, Palestinians voted peacefully and numerously for a new parliament on January 25th. But as The Economist went to press, the outcome was uncertain. While exit polls had pointed to a narrow victory for Fatah, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority (PA), unofficial initial counts gave its Islamist rival Hamas some 70 seats of the 132 in the legislature. The pa cabinet, which has to be reappointed after a legislative election, resigned pre-emptively at the news. If neither party gets more than half the seats, one of them will have to form a coalition with some of the smaller parties. These tend to lean towards the secular Fatah party, though a couple may see benefits in siding with Hamas. Yet even if Hamas wins outright, it will probably try to avoid the showdown-with Fatah, Israel and the rest of the world-that would result from taking over the pa. "It will take a subtle, measured approach and will try to appease others," says Hisham Ahmed, a political scientist at Birzeit University. Mahmoud Abbas, a Fatah man, remains the Palestinian president and will get to appoint the cabinet.
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