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In
spite of his recurrent pledges that the PA legislative elections would
be held on time and his refutations to the contrary, the PA chief,
Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, issued a presidential decree
indefinitely deferring those elections and confirming that a date for
the electoral process would be designated later.
The
decision, which allegedly aimed at resolving the dispute over proposed
amendments to the electoral code and came to the disappointment of the
Palestinian popular and political forces, raised large-scale fears over
the destiny of the polls, which are regarded as the only means to
establish the freedom of expression and initiate radical reforms into
the PA institutions presently dominated by corrupt elements.
Postponement backgrounds and reasons:
Undoubtedly, there are many intermingled local and international reasons
that prompted Abbas to make such a decision. Those reasons could be
summarized as follows:
1-
Fatah
Movement's internal crisis:
As a
matter of fact, it's obvious that Fatah is experiencing sharp internal
crisis due to the raging power struggle between Abbas and Farouq
Qaddoumi, chairman of the Movement's central committee, on the one hand,
between the party's old leaders, dubbed "old guards” and the new ones,
who are seeking to control the Movement, on the other hand.
The
disputes amongst those leaders didn’t spare the electoral code as some
of them believe that the Palestinian Legislative Council members should
be elected in accordance with the proportional representation while
others see it better that the lawmakers must be selected in national
districts or on partisan lists.
Moreover, the Movement is unable to rein in the lawlessness and
anarchism reigning in the PA-controlled lands let alone the acts of
vandalism and sabotage committed by elements affiliated with the Fatah's
armed wing, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a matter that prompted the PA
premier, Ahmed Qrei, to threaten the resignation of his government in
case the PA failed to maintain security and stability in its
territories.
This, of course, proves that Fatah, the largest Palestinian party with
68 out of 88 PLC seats, was suffering an unenviable plight, which
compelled Abbas to take such a decision for the purpose of settling
disputes amongst the Fatah leaders as a prelude to prepare the Movement
for contesting the forthcoming legislative elections amidst fears that
it might lose them to the Hamas Movement as was the case in the first
and second rounds of the municipal elections held across the PA-run
lands.
2-
Israeli-US pressures:
Hamas' sweeping victory over Fatah, in the local elections came to the
dissatisfaction of the Hebrew state and its guardian-ally, the United
States, as evident in the US President George Bush's remarks, voiced
during his meeting last April with the Israeli premier, Ariel Sharon, in
Texas, in which they expressed fears over Hamas' possible victory in the
upcoming Palestinian legislative elections.
Likewise, the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, warned that Tel
Aviv won't evacuate the Gaza Strip in the event Hamas won the PLC polls.
And this, of course, explained why Abbas, who was given the US go-ahead
during his recent visit to Washington, announced the poll deferment
immediately after returning home.
Reacting to Abbas' decision, the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza
Rice, said that the US administration doesn’t oppose the adjournment
since the legislative elections would be conducted later.
Rice's remarks signaled a US desire for putting off those elections in
order for Abbas to prepare his Movement for a strong competition with
Hamas that enjoys a considerable popularity amongst the Palestinian
people, who hinge high hopes on that Islamic Movement in terms of
rooting out the corruption rampant in the PA institutions and defeating
the Israeli occupation.
3-Israeli evacuation of Gaza Strip:
In
fact, intensive Egyptian-US efforts, coupled with Israeli desire, are
being exerted to give Abbas the opportunity to exploit the planned
Israeli evacuation of the Gaza Strip slated for mid August in favor of
Fatah Movement through marketing it as a political and authoritarian
achievement to be exploited in convincing the Palestinian electorate to
vote for the PA ruling party in the forthcoming PLC elections.
On the other hand, such an alleged accomplishment could be also marketed
as a significant factor for reviving the peace process as evident in the
Israeli first deputy premier Shimon Peres' remarks that Abbas-Sharon
summit, held recently in the latter's residence in occupied Jerusalem,
would boost the peace process in addition to coordinating the Israeli
pullout from the Strip with the PA.
However, it isn't certain that the Palestinian people would be fooled by
such illusions, particularly as they are well aware that the Israeli
evacuation of the Strip, which would be implemented with Sharon's
unilateral disengagement plan, would be portrayed as a great achievement
made by the PA and its backbone, Fatah.
4-Apprehension of Hamas' possible victory:
The
PLC polls were adjourned for fear that Hamas might score a landslide
victory in those elections, which would enhance the resistance option,
deal a heavy blow to the peace process, and expose the fallacy of the
bombastic slogans bandied by those claiming keenness on preserving the
national interests.
Subsequently, the local and regional forces could no longer evade their
obligations towards the Palestinian people.
Furthermore, the PA exerted early efforts to impede Hamas' victory in
May municipal elections as shown in the invalidation by the
PA-controlled courts of the results of three Gaza Strip localities, a
matter that was suggestive of an indirect regional support coupled with
a clear bias to Fatah Movement on the part of the PA-influenced
judiciary.
To conclude, the postponement of the PLC elections dealt a heavy blow to
the Palestinian national consensus embodied in the Egyptian-sponsored
Cairo agreements the PA signed with the Palestinian resistance factions.
The
step would also open the door wide open for foreign interventions and
internal disputes that would be invested by some parties to serve their
suspicious interests in addition to hampering any serious endeavors to
introduce reforms into the PA institutions infested with corrupt
officials who only seek to attain their personal aspirations and
ambitions. |
