PA elections put on hold
The Palestinian Authority has put plans for elections on ice, in a move that will save its leaders from likely humiliation at the ballot box.
JERUSALEM – The Palestinian Authority has put plans for elections on ice, in a move that will save its leaders from likely humiliation at the ballot box.
Palestinians were due, in three weeks’ time, to head to the polls for the first vote in a decade open to residents of the West Bank and Gaza. The PA called the elections back in May, expecting that they would bolster the power of its leaders, who hail from the Fatah party.
But they miscalculated, believing that the Islamist Hamas would boycott the elections. Instead, Hamas agreed to take part, and looked set to beat Fatah. And while the elections were only for local municipalities, as there are no parliamentary or presidential elections, it was being viewed as a referendum on the rule of President Mahmoud Abbas and associates from his Fatah party.
The anticipated embarrassment for the PA – and the anticipated headache for Israel of a strengthened Hamas – was averted when the Ramallah High Court delayed elections, after deciding they shouldn’t be held if East Jerusalem Palestinians can’t vote. This is because they live on Israeli territory – something that was clear when elections were called, but which has been brought as an objection only now. The court also raised concerns that Hamas has excluded some candidates from running in Gaza.
“As the elections were obstructed in Jerusalem and because of the procedural hurdles in Gaza, a decision was taken to defer the elections,” the Ramallah High Court ruled.
Abdullatif Al-Qanoun, a Hamas spokesman, condemned the decision as “politically motivated”. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said that other Palestinian elections have been held without voting in Jerusalem, making it “unjustifiable” to delay elections on that “pretext”.
Raed Nirat, political science professor at An-Najah National University in the West Bank, told The AJN that he doesn’t expect the elections to be rescheduled for any time soon. He said of the PA’s leaders: “They wanted elections to show they will win, but after candidate lists were submitted they realised they will not win, and after this they looked for any reason to get out of the elections.”
He said that there is little pressure for a new election date, as “elections are not a priority for the average people”, adding, “People think democracy is just cosmetic.”
Israeli leaders are not commenting publicly on the ruling of the Palestinian court, but are known to be relieved at the reprieve from an emboldened Hamas. The Ramallah court is likely to review the decision over the coming weeks; though it has the power to reschedule elections and possibly to have them take place in just the West Bank, the court is expected to keep the process frozen.
NATHAN JEFFAY
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