Today, 29 years ago, on January 20, 1996 (April 1, 1995) the first Palestinian elections were announced. On January 20, 1996, the first free Palestinian elections in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Palestinian Autonomous Region were held smoothly, with more than one million voters voting, and Arafat, the Chairman of the Palestinian Executive Committee, was elected with an overwhelming majority of votes as Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority (Government). International observers confirmed that the election was fair, free and democratic. United Nations Security Council, Secretary-General Galli and the leaders of several countries congratulated Arafat for being elected.