Why Does Nobody Talk About Palestinian Elections?
Friday 4 May passed like any other day in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Disappointingly so, because this should have been the day when the Palestinian people elected a new government and a new president.
Instead, it marked yet another date in a long chain of unfulfilled promises since Palestinian general elections should have been held in January 2009. Journalists point to the growing disappointment and frustration among the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Disappointment mainly about the fact that the two established parties, the Islamist Hamas and the secular Fatah, are unable to agree upon an election date and stick to it. It almost seems like the current Palestinian representatives are avoiding the moment of truth, when they and their party programmes are put to a vote. According to the Telegraph, a recent poll revealed that 50 per cent of the Palestinians said they’ll vote neither for Fatah nor for Hamas – which clearly demonstrates their political disillusion.
What puzzles me most in this context is that the date passed largely unnoticed and uncommented upon by the international community. What happened to all the advocates in favour of Palestinian statehood? Why did nobody speak out about the fact that nothing happened on 4 May?
The European Union, who spent around 1.5 million EUR in 2011 to foster democracy and human rights in Palestine, has tacitly been supporting a Fatah-lead Palestinian Authority bare of any democratic legitimacy, for many years. President Mahmoud Abbas’ mandate officially ended in 2009. Installed in 2007 and backed by the West despite a clear Hamas electoral victory in 2006, his power does not adhere to democratic standards. By accepting that new elections are postponed again and again, the European Union and the international community at large further undermine the country’s democratic development. Pushing for legislative and presidential elections, on the contrary, would finally rectify this wrongful situation.
Unlike the developments in its neighbouring countries, and despite the on-going conflict with Israel, Palestine still has a true shot at peacefully establishing an organised, stable democratic system. The international community can do much better than it is currently doing to support this non-violent process.
How? Well, certainly not like in 2006. When 44.45 % of the Palestinians voted in favour of Hamas who won more than half of the seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), the West did not accept the outcome and quickly changed the rules: It imposed ex post criteria on the political parties based on which they were declared eligible to form a government, with the result that Fatah came to power. This time the EU and its partners should encourage elections that are based on fair and transparent ex ante criteria, and then live with the electoral outcome. Trust in democracy and let the Palestinians take their fate into their own hands.
Comments (0)