At stake in this election:

• The office of Acting President of Palestine

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Acting President Rawhi FATTUH *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei
• Assembly: Palestine has a unicameral Legislative Council with 88 seats.

* Rawhi Fattuh became acting president on November 11, 2004 following the death of Yassar Arafat.

Description of electoral system:

• The Acting President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Legislative Council 88 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms.***

*** According to The Revision of The Third Draft of the Constitution of the State of Palestine, the House of Representatives should consist of 150 members elected to five-year terms.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Mahmoud ABBAS 'Abu Mazen'
  • Party: Palestinian National Liberation Movement (FATEH)
• Mustafa BARGHOUTHI
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Tayseer KHALED
  • Party: Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
• Abd Al Halim AL-ASHQAR
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Bassam AL-SALHI
  • Alliance: People's Party of Palestine
• Sayyed Hussein BARAKEH
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Abd Al Karim SHBAIR
  • Party: Independent Candidate

Last Presidential election:

• The last election was held on January 20, 1996. Yassar Arafat received 88.2% of the vote defeating Miss Samiha Khalil who received 11.5% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,636,195 (July 2004 est. - combination of Gaza and West Bank figures)
• Registered Voters: 1,092,407 ( 2004 )