The Palestinian Elections: Prospects & Challenges

A man passes pictures of Arafat and Fatah’s presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas, Gaza (Reuters)

Being the founder of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the man who raised the Palestinian cause to the international level, he created a political system that was based on him rather than institutions. He headed the PA, the PLO, and Fatah.

Arafat was accused of weakening the legislative council elected in 1996. Additionally, in the last few years, there were serious debates over the extent of corruption in the system. Yet, he was the hero and the symbol of Palestine.

Fears of Palestine falling into a civil war were alleviated when astonishingly the Palestinian Authority was able to take control of the situation and quickly fill the power vacuum created with Arafat’s death, making the decision to hold the Presidential elections on January 9, 2005.

In a salon titled “Palestinian elections: Is it a transformation towards the respect of Palestinians’ rights and the rule of law?,” held on December 28, 2004 in the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Dr. Samir Ghattas, Director of the Maqdis Center for Political Studies, said that the PA was able to employ the emotional moment and use democratic means for dialogue between different factions. “Fatah was also successful in uniting its divisions that were created with the Intifada,” he added.

“Another important factor was the division of Arafat’s jurisdictions ... Mahmoud Abbas was elected as the PLO leader, Farouk Kadoumi was appointed head of Fatah, and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei was given the jurisdictions that Arafat possessed, including controlling security authorities.”

However, Dr. Ghattas emphasized that there are fears that this separation of powers will not continue after the presidential election takes place.

“It is important to have separate figures in the three positions in order to ensure a fair representation of the Palestinian Diaspora,” Fateh Azzam, Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Director, said in the same gathering.

Having a clear democratic system as a condition for reaching a peace settlement has made the upcoming elections more important than usual. It has attracted international attention and concern. Yet, there are challenges facing the elections.

There are security issues, especially that there was an attempt to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah’s presidential candidate, while attending a condolence ceremony a few days after the death of Arafat.

“There are no extraordinary security measures taken for the elections,” Tayseer Naserallah, member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), said in a phone interview. “We are not expecting anything similar to what happened in November; however, the international community should exert pressure on Israel to ensure that it would provide the suitable environment for fair elections, as—in my opinion—the real obstacle is Israel.”

Nasrallah added that they have finally reached an agreement with the Israelis to withdraw from all election places for three days.

“This is to ensure that no friction takes place between our citizens and their forces,” he explained.

Another challenge is the decision made by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to boycott the presidential election, even though Hamas has entered the local elections held on December 23.

It is thought that the reason for Hamas’s stance is that the election is going to be held within the framework of the Oslo Accords. However, the group was criticized for participating in the local elections, which were also framed on the basis of the Accords.

“We have been entering local elections and participating in service-providing institutions since our establishment, as these institutions serve the people,” Dr. Muhammad Ghazal of Hamas’s Nablus Political Command said. “The Oslo Accords are not the reason we are boycotting the presidential election. We call for real democratic elections—not a superficial process to give the image of setting up a democracy. Arrangements made are one-sided and other forces were not involved in decision-making,” he added.

On the other hand, the PNC’s Nasrallah insists that arrangements for the presidential election were made according to Palestinian laws. “The Palestinian electoral law states that elections should be conducted within 60 days of the death or resignation of the president.”

Nasrallah remarked that they would have hoped for Hamas and other Islamic opposition groups to participate in the election and be part of the democratic process.

“Hamas’s stance is a voluntary one and we respect their position,” he said.

Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, is internationally favored for his policy of demilitarizing the Intifada and controlling the use of weapons in Palestine. Many question how successful he can be when militant opposition groups, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are refusing to recognize the forthcoming election.

“Hamas has announced that it would support peace if it would ensure the rights of Palestinians. However, we are convinced that the Israeli mentality refuses peace,” Dr. Ghazal said. “We have chosen to use force, as we have no other choice, and this is not the best solution but it is the solution imposed on us in the current situation. We will support the PA if it will bring us a peace that ensures our rights. We are only calling for our rights and this is what the Palestinian people want.”

Meanwhile, Nasrallah believes that there is dialogue between the Islamic forces and Fatah; he did not deny that they disagree regarding the militarization of the Intifada.

“Abu Mazen differentiates between the halting of the Intifada and the halting of its militarization,” he said. “We believe that resistance and the Intifada are Palestinian rights but we are discussing the manner in which they should be conducted and the control of the use of weapons”.

In the CIHRS salon, Fateh Azzam presented some opinion polls’ results that show that the Palestinians are for a ceasefire and reaching a peace settlement with Israel. “According to these opinion polls, 80% of Palestinians prefer a ceasefire and the return to negotiations,” he pointed out.

At the end of the gathering, both Dr. Ghatas and Azzam emphasized the fact that the upcoming elections should not be the only indicator for the existence of democracy in Palestine. Corruption is yet to be eliminated, and separation of powers in the Palestinian Authority is yet to be ensured.

“We hope that these elections will give the winner the legitimacy to unite all Palestinian factions and end corruption,” Azzam said.

Sally Sami is a freelance writer based in Cairo. Her main fields of interest are human rights, Arab politics, and democracy. You can reach her at ssami_79@hotmail.com.