Legislative Elections (2006)
Legislative elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council were held for a second time in January 2006, at the urging of President Bush, and won by the Islamist group Hamas. Official results can be found here.
![](https://ecfr.eu/wp-content/uploads/YNTc5-distribution-of-seats-in-the-2006-palestinian-legislative-council-plc--913x1024.png)
The Carter Centre and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) considered the 2006 elections to have “compared favorably to international standards…with polling results reflect[ing] the will of the people”. The EU held a similar view, describing them as “another important milestone in the building of democratic institutions. These elections saw impressive voter participation in an open and fairly-contested electoral process that was efficiently administered by a professional and independent Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC).” Ultimately, however, the US-led Quartet boycotted the Hamas-led government.