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Palestine: Election jitters
Vulnerable Fatah backbenchers are pushing for a postponement of the Palestinian parliamentary elections, reports Khaled Amayreh from the West Bank
An acrimonious debate is taking place within the Fatah movement over the organisation of parliamentary elections in the occupied territories this summer.
Fatah leaders occupying key positions in the PA, including President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, have said that they would like to see the elections take place on time, irrespective of whether Fatah would perform well at the polls.
Abbas, Qurei and their allies calculate that a postponement of the elections would undermine PA commitment to democratic reforms and further corrode Fatah's credibility in the eyes of the Palestinian public.
Moreover, a postponement would fly in the face of the agreements and understandings reached in Cairo last month between the PA leadership and opposition factions, in particular with the powerful Islamic group, Hamas.
However, such considerations don't seem to mean much to the bulk of Fatah deputies at the Legislative Council, who, some Palestinian commentators suggest, are worried that they won't be re-elected and that Hamas, one way or another will win the elections.
Fatah law-maker Hatem Abdul-Qader, a leading advocate of postponing the elections, says a delay of a few weeks or even a few months would be good for the Palestinian people. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Abdul-Qader denied that any postponement would be motivated by political considerations, insisting that "it has only to do with procedural matters."
Asked why the Fatah-controlled council was dragging its feet in passing the amended election law, Abdul-Qader accused the "executive authority" of not agreeing to the "repeated proposals of the council". He added, "the executive branch of the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the de facto postponement. Mahmoud Abbas wants to postpone the elections, but is trying to blame the law-makers for postponement."
Abdul-Qader was alluding to differences with Abbas over the so-called "mixed system" where half of the parliament's deputies are elected at the national level in accordance with a party- ticket system while the other half are elected regionally within their respective electoral districts.
Abbas, who has vowed to hold the elections on time, is in favour of making the entire West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem one electoral district. In this position, he is supported by a majority of veteran Fatah leaders who rely more on their "status within the movement" than on specific constituencies within certain electoral districts.
Fatah backbenchers, however, are reluctant to accept this proposal, which itself was tabled as a compromise, in fear that Hamas would benefit most from such a system. Hamas says it doesn't object to the adoption of any electoral system as long as it leads to the organisation of credible and transparent elections that would enable the Palestinian masses to freely elect their representatives.
The Islamic movement suspects Fatah of foul- play and of not acting in good faith. This was the view expressed by Hamas's spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, in an interview with the Weekly this week. Al-Zahar accused "certain elements" within Fatah of "giving their own selfish interests precedence over the paramount interests of the Palestinian people." He added, "they are afraid they will lose their privileges and grip on power, this is why they want to postpone the elections for as long as possible."
Al-Zahar pointed out that he had been assured by Mahmoud Abbas that the elections would be held on 17 July. He added, nonetheless, that he was not sure Abbas would be able to overrule "the strong opposition" within Fatah to holding the elections on time.
Read More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/739/re1.htm
Fatah leaders occupying key positions in the PA, including President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, have said that they would like to see the elections take place on time, irrespective of whether Fatah would perform well at the polls.
Abbas, Qurei and their allies calculate that a postponement of the elections would undermine PA commitment to democratic reforms and further corrode Fatah's credibility in the eyes of the Palestinian public.
Moreover, a postponement would fly in the face of the agreements and understandings reached in Cairo last month between the PA leadership and opposition factions, in particular with the powerful Islamic group, Hamas.
However, such considerations don't seem to mean much to the bulk of Fatah deputies at the Legislative Council, who, some Palestinian commentators suggest, are worried that they won't be re-elected and that Hamas, one way or another will win the elections.
Fatah law-maker Hatem Abdul-Qader, a leading advocate of postponing the elections, says a delay of a few weeks or even a few months would be good for the Palestinian people. In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Abdul-Qader denied that any postponement would be motivated by political considerations, insisting that "it has only to do with procedural matters."
Asked why the Fatah-controlled council was dragging its feet in passing the amended election law, Abdul-Qader accused the "executive authority" of not agreeing to the "repeated proposals of the council". He added, "the executive branch of the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the de facto postponement. Mahmoud Abbas wants to postpone the elections, but is trying to blame the law-makers for postponement."
Abdul-Qader was alluding to differences with Abbas over the so-called "mixed system" where half of the parliament's deputies are elected at the national level in accordance with a party- ticket system while the other half are elected regionally within their respective electoral districts.
Abbas, who has vowed to hold the elections on time, is in favour of making the entire West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem one electoral district. In this position, he is supported by a majority of veteran Fatah leaders who rely more on their "status within the movement" than on specific constituencies within certain electoral districts.
Fatah backbenchers, however, are reluctant to accept this proposal, which itself was tabled as a compromise, in fear that Hamas would benefit most from such a system. Hamas says it doesn't object to the adoption of any electoral system as long as it leads to the organisation of credible and transparent elections that would enable the Palestinian masses to freely elect their representatives.
The Islamic movement suspects Fatah of foul- play and of not acting in good faith. This was the view expressed by Hamas's spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, in an interview with the Weekly this week. Al-Zahar accused "certain elements" within Fatah of "giving their own selfish interests precedence over the paramount interests of the Palestinian people." He added, "they are afraid they will lose their privileges and grip on power, this is why they want to postpone the elections for as long as possible."
Al-Zahar pointed out that he had been assured by Mahmoud Abbas that the elections would be held on 17 July. He added, nonetheless, that he was not sure Abbas would be able to overrule "the strong opposition" within Fatah to holding the elections on time.
Read More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/739/re1.htm
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When Ariel Sharon met George Bush in Texas earlier this month he used the same language to describe Mahmoud Abbas as he once used about Yasser Arafat. The new Palestinian president was a "disappointment", he said. Abbas was unwilling and perhaps unable to "subdue the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure". His "rule" was "collapsing".
Publicly, Bush did not buy the characterisation, preferring to see in Abbas a leader who "wants there to be a Palestinian state that will live in peace beside Israel". Privately, he urged Israel to act to strengthen Abbas and dispatched to envoys in Israel and the occupied territories to ensure compliance. Israel has since said it will reactivate joint committees on prisoners, economic cooperation and Israel's stunted West Bank re-deployment that have lain dormant since the Sharm El-Sheikh summit in February.
Palestinians, too, do not see Abbas as a leader heading for a fall -- at least not yet. But 100 days into his watch there is a sense of growing disappointment. It is a new mood and a far cry from even the mild optimism generated by the presidential elections in January when Abbas was cast as the great white hope of Palestinian nationalism. Nor is the disillusion altogether fair.
Abbas has overseen a remarkably peaceful transition since Arafat's death in November, steering his people through local and presidential elections in the teeth of the occupation and with barely a shot fired. He has delivered on a central part of his political programme. On 17 March in Cairo he not only secured a cross- factional Palestinian commitment to "an atmosphere of calm" for the rest of 2005; he also began the process of integrating Hamas and Islamic Jihad into the PLO.
Read More
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/739/fr2.htm