Democratic preconditions
Democratic elections are the only way forward for the Palestinian struggle, writes Mustafa Barghouthi*
It is not hard to perceive a problem within a country's political system when it can say it has experienced five successive governments within the space of a year. The advent of Ahmed Qurei's second government earlier this month must now bring the Palestinian people face to face with the crisis endemic in their political system. However, this fifth attempt to consolidate a Palestinian government carries with it little distinction that would suggest a sixth will not be following shortly.
The pertaining circumstances from which Qurei's government arises have altered only negligibly from those hampering all previous agendas. The still dominant unrepresentative 'old guard' continues to rob the political system, and subsequently the peace negotiators of any legitimacy. The resultant continuing impasse is providing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with justification for maintaining the status quo and pursuing predisposed interests -- namely the systematic exacerbation of an illegal occupation combined with the creation of a horrific apartheid system. Meanwhile, it seems those Palestinians in authoritative positions can barely see past an evidently escalating internal competition of who can take what to the Israelis first. Initiating new agreements constructed on nothing more than virtual realities while Sharon continues to construct serious de facto realities of annexation and apartheid on the ground.
Gloomy predictions about the fate of Ahmed Qurei's government are perhaps inevitable in the light of the fate of the previous four. Yet the dynamics responsible for the succession of failures remain all too clear. The fact that Palestine has experienced five consecutive governments in less than a year clearly reflects a profound crisis in the Palestinian political structure -- a crisis bound to persist as long as the Palestinian political system remains a "closed" system. The existing regime's strategy of rule has prevented the implementation of a number of processes and reforms that are essential for the development of institutional forms of representative decision making.
The process most obviously lacking, and most desperately needed, is one of democratic elections. The present administration and the legislative council have consistently found ways to overstay their original term, which should have ended with a new round of elections in 1999. Since then the parliament has functioned un-sanctioned with a 66 per cent majority of Fatah members. The governing party has an absolute majority which has for the last seven years, at least, remained unchangeable in the absence of elections. This absence transcends all sectors of society. Elections have not taken place at the municipal level since 1976 after which Israel prevented all electoral possibilities until 1994. Since its inauguration that year, the Palestinian Authority has taken it upon itself to appoint the 6,000-odd municipal members, rather than have them elected by the people. After almost 10 years of pre- eminence the PA has developed, no doubt, an inherent disinclination towards the prospect of holding elections, and is more likely to remain averse to opening up the system for fear of losing the control and power it has so long enjoyed.
The absence of elections and the inability to transform the Palestinian system of rule into an accountable system of governance has severely affected the viability of all political life in Palestine. Many members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and civil society have been lobbying for, and publicly demanding, the holding of legislative and presidential elections in Palestine. In order to get to elections, however, there must be a consensus characterised by unified internal Palestinian decisions -- as pushed for by the Palestinian National Initiative (a democratic opposition movement established in June 2002). Such opposition groups attempting to become part of the political process and participate in democratic decision-making can find no way, however, of breaking into the existing status quo. The inability of these groups to voice their opinions, and be heard and represented, is severely weakening civil society -- an important dynamic in the democratisation and nation-building process.
Not sanctioned by elections and thus stripped of any representative authority, those now bargaining for the future of Palestine are seriously undermining the legitimacy of any negotiations with Israel. Elections are thus a vital precondition for peace. The European experience clearly demonstrates that real, viable and lasting peace can be established only between democracies, ratified by representatives who are freely elected.
Those who deny elections are not only betraying the Palestinian people but are also playing straight into the hands of President Sharon, who has simultaneously made Palestinian political reform a pre-requisite for negotiations, while systematically undermining any reform efforts.
Presenting the PA as a corrupt, terror regime is not a call for Palestinian reform but an excuse for Israel's continued violations or non-alignment with the current US-backed "roadmap" for peace. The last thing Sharon wants is any legitimate Palestinian representative institution, and he certainly does not want the Palestinian people empowered through a democratically installed government. He is most unlikely to end the occupation and its collective punishment policy of closures, checkpoints and curfews that restrict Palestinian freedoms and thus inhibit the development of a democratic society. The ongoing occupation then serves to further justify the PA's suspension of elections as the physical conditions on the ground, principally the siege and fragmentation of Palestinian territory, the lack of freedom of movement, plus the constant Israeli military escalation and incursions, all render the mere possibility of conducting free and fair elections entirely unfeasible.
Consequently, Palestinian democrats, and a community at large that is desperate for change, are at an impasse. Elections are without doubt essential to re-establish the viability of the political system, end the political crisis and give back a sense of legitimacy through representation to any future peace initiative. Yet at the same time freedom of movement is needed to ensure these elections may take place. The PA is not insincere in highlighting the impossibility of holding elections in the current climate of full occupation and siege.
Mr Qurei recently ceded to popular pressure by announcing a date for elections in June 2004. But these elections will not take place unless the international community provides an international presence to ensure an easing of the political and territorial conditions that make elections impossible. While the world community must demand and ensure free and fair elections from the Palestinian Authority, these elections will require a freedom of movement that can only be achieved through a withdrawal of Israeli military forces and the removal of all checkpoints.
Media celebrations in London, Geneva and Madrid meetings and agreements built upon virtual realities mean little when the actual reality on the ground spells out the consolidation of occupation and the systematic creation of apartheid. This is the reality -- Sharon's sustained destruction of the real potential for peace, the two state solution.
* The writer is secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, president of the Palestinian Medical Relief Committees and director of the Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HIDP) in Ramallah.
