Apparently, events in Tunisia and Egypt have made Abbas nervous enough to call for new Palestinian elections in September. The problem is that there is no agreement among Palestinians. An election that does not include all factions is not representative.
The Palestinian leadership announced Saturday that it planned to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by September, apparently a response to the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt calling for greater democracy and government accountability.
The decision was announced in the West Bank city of Ramallah after a meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which oversees the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is also the chairman of the P.L.O.
At the same meeting, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian peace negotiator with Israel, submitted his resignation and Mr. Abbas accepted it. A subcommittee was formed to look for a successor as well as to consider restructuring the negotiations unit.
The Islamist Hamas faction rejected the plan for national elections, saying Mr. Abbas had no legitimacy to call for them since he was serving beyond his term.
The Palestinians have not held elections since 2006, when Hamas won a majority in the parliament, leading to a year and a half of uneasy power sharing and a brief civil war in June 2007. Since then, Hamas has governed Gaza and the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority has controlled the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority announced that postponed local elections would be held in July, a move that Hamas also rejected.
Hamas has said it believes that elections should follow a reconciliation process between itself and Fatah, including a restructuring of the P.L.O. to include Hamas, which is currently excluded… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
To be honest, I think that Hamas has the more ethical position here. The last time there was a true Palestinian election, Hamas won. The Bush Regime supported Fatah and enabled the split. That does not matter. As long as there is no peace between the Palestinian factions, there will be no chance for peace with Israel.
2 Responses to “Election Controversy in Palestine”
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The splitting of the governance of Palestine is as stupid as us splitting the US North against the South. Then we’d be back to the Civil War days. (As much as I’d like to see the Repubs out of the game, it’s still not a good idea.)
That’s right Lisa, but we could give them just Arizona. 😉