The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to hold partial local elections came following pressure from the European Union after cancelling Palestinian general elections, member of Hamas Political Bureau Husam Badran said Sunday.   
Speaking at a political forum, Badran added that the partial local vote, if held, would not grant the PA any legitimacy either at the national or international levels. 
“The Palestinian people are entitled to choose their leadership at all levels,” Badran stressed.   
Badran explained that the Palestinian cause has been controlled single-handedly by one person for years. 
“Hamas believes in elections as the most righteous way of selecting representatives for the Palestinian people,” Badran confirmed. 
Badran pointed out that the Palestinian people have a serious and profound lack of confidence in the current Palestinian leadership.   
Pointing to the recent PA’s crackdown on freedoms in the West Bank, Badran noted that the PA security forces detained last week all Islamic Bloc student activists at An-Najah University and arrested activists over social media posts.  

PA’s media attack on Hamas
The Hamas politburo member regretted that the PA has launched an unjustified campaign to attack Hamas through its media outlets. 
Badran denied all allegations that Hamas had lambasted PA President Mahmoud Abbas to justify the media attack on the Palestinian resistance movement.