The Palestinian elections...a national decision that should not be subject to foreign dictates

Writer: Bassam Zakarneh

The Palestinian people support the elections, with the completion of their procedures, and with every effort made to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of their holding. The elections are a right for the Palestinian people, a national and democratic entitlement delayed for more than twenty years, and a political need to renew the legitimacy of our institutions and rebuild our political life on the basis of popular participation.

But there is an issue no less important than the elections themselves: who decides their date, conditions, and fate? The answer must be clear: The decision regarding the elections must be Palestinian. The Palestinian people do not want to hold the elections because the European Union, the United States, or any Arab or international party wants them, and they do not accept to postpone them because an external party wants to postpone them. If the national interest requires holding the elections, they must be held, and if objective circumstances at a certain stage impose their postponement in order to preserve their comprehensiveness and legitimacy, then the postponement must also be a Palestinian decision. This is not a matter of political stubbornness, but rather a matter related to the independence of the national decision.

Over the past years, the Palestinians have responded to international demands on sensitive issues. We committed to the peace process, implemented agreements, modified curricula, took measures related to prisoners’ salaries, and implemented financial, administrative, and political reforms. The Palestinian society bears the political, social, and economic consequences of these measures.

Today, the Palestinian people have the right to clearly ask: What did the international community give us in return? Was the same pressure exerted on Israel to implement international agreements and resolutions? Was it pressured to stop settlement, settler attacks, home demolitions, and land confiscations? Was real pressure exerted to stop withholding the clearance funds that the National Authority needs to carry out its duties? Were the barriers opened to the movement of Palestinians? Was there actual international action to provide protection for Palestinian civilians and stop the war and destruction in Gaza? These are not questions of one-upmanship but rather relate to a simple principle: Commitments cannot be directionalone.

If amending the curricula is required for the sake of peace, then there must be one standard for the Palestinian and Israeli curricula. If what is required is to reform the National Authority, then it is natural that there will be a clear position when its funds are withheld and its ability to carry out its duties is undermined. If what is required are democratic elections, then the conditions must be present that allow them to be held in a free, comprehensive and fair manner. Here, talking about elections cannot be separated from the Palestinian reality. The question is: How do we ensure Gaza’s participation? How can the electoral process be protected in it? Can there be a role for Palestinian or international forces? Neutral if the electoral process needs to be? Or do we leave its fate to a specific party or militia that roams the street in some areas of Gaza?

How are elections held in Jerusalem? Will Israel allow it to be conducted? Who protects the Election Commission in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank? Who guarantees the arrival of voters in the West Bank in light of the barriers, settlements and settler attacks? And who protects the polling centers and ballot boxes? How does the Central Elections Commission exercise its powers in all Palestinian regions equally? These are not excuses to disrupt the elections, but rather necessary questions to ensure their integrity, comprehensiveness, and legitimacy.

Whoever demands that the Palestinian people hold elections must not be satisfied with the demand, but must help remove the obstacles that prevent them from being held. The Palestinians are not asking the European Union to hold the elections in their place or to choose their representatives for them. What is required is for the international community to use its political and economic weight to help provide the environment that allows the Palestinian people to exercise their democratic right.

NoIt is not possible to talk about Palestinian democracy while settlement continues, nor about a Palestinian state while the occupation controls the land, movement, and resources, nor about comprehensive elections while there are no guarantees for the participation of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank.

The Palestinian people want elections that renew political legitimacy, strengthen the institutions of the National Authority, strengthen the Liberation Organization as the comprehensive national framework, and open the way to renewing Palestinian political life.

He does not want elections to become a gateway to weakening the PLO, dismantling the Palestinian political system, or restructuring it according to external calculations.

The Palestinian people do not reject Europe, do not reject international support, or refuse cooperation with the international community, but they want a relationship based on partnership and mutual respect, not on guardianship or imposing conditions.

If Europe wants to be a partner in supporting Palestinian democracy, its natural role is to help remove obstacles to elections and put pressure to provide conditions that allow them to be held, not to determine what the Palestinians should decide for themselves.

The Palestinians have provided a lot in response to international demands, and they have the right to ask for something in return. The Palestinians cannot be constantly asked to implement commitments, reforms, and conditions while the Israeli side remains immune from the same pressures, and settlement, land confiscation, withholding of funds, and restrictions on movement continue.

Therefore, the criterion must be clear: If the outside world wants elections, this is not a sufficient reason to hold them, and if he wants to postpone them, this is not a sufficient reason to postpone them. The criterion is interest.Palestinian nationalism and the ability of the Palestinians to hold comprehensive, free and fair elections with the participation of Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.

We do not want to confront the world, nor do we reject international assistance, but the Palestinian people want assistance that respects their national will and a relationship based on partnership, not guardianship.

The Palestinian elections do not belong to the European Union, the United States, or any Arab country.

The elections belong to the Palestinian people, and the decision regarding them must remain Palestinian. We want them to be elections for Palestine, not to please the outside world. We want them to include Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank, not incomplete elections. We want them to be a means to renew national legitimacy, not a tool to reshape the political system according to the desires of others.

The decision, in the end, must be issued by the competent Palestinian institutions, foremost of which is the Central Elections Commission, in partnership with the effective political forces, while benefiting from any international support that does not affect the independence of the Palestinian decision.

As for European countries and other international parties, what is required of them today is not to put more pressure on the Palestinians, but rather to help remove obstacles to exercising their democratic right, fulfilling their obligations towards international law and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and not dealing with elections according to criteria separate from the political and legal reality in which the Palestinians live.

It is time for the relationship with the international community to be based on a clear foundation: partnership, not guardianship and assistance, not dictation and mutual respect, not unilateral decisions.

The Palestinian people want elections, they want democracy, they want renewed legitimacy, but above all they want their will to remainHis national decision belongs to him.