Electoral timebomb

Palestinians brace themselves for elections even as Israel steps up its oppression, Erica Silverman reports from Ramallah

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Elections under fire Tough call New year, old atrocities Poised to conquer

Ginger Rogers performed the exact same dance routines as Fred Astaire only backwards, in high heels and a long flowing gown. In the same regard Palestinians are working diligently to hold a free and fair democratic presidential election under Israeli military occupation with little experience, limited resources, lacking precedent in electoral law, and the question of whether Palestinians in East Jerusalem will enjoy full participation in the electoral process has yet to be answered.

Road closures, permits and ID cards granting freedom of movement, the separation wall, and the almost complete inaccessibility to the Gaza Strip were the overarching topics of the first official press event held last Thursday by the Central Elections Commission (CEC) headquartered in Ramallah. The CEC is an independent electoral authority responsible for the preparation, administration, and supervision of Palestinian elections with 16 regional offices for each voting district.

Majdi Abu Zaid from the regional CEC office in Gaza, containing five of the 16 districts, reported major problems in the movement of staff and materials within Gaza, and between the area and the West Bank. Two presidential candidates from Gaza, Sayed Baraka and Abdul- Karim Shbeir, have yet to receive a travel permit to leave the area.

Abu Zaid reported that two central checkpoints, Abu Holi, placed directly on the main Palestinian access road between the north and the south, and Netzarim are closed for days at a time severely limiting their movement. In certain areas no one is permitted to enter, not even residents let alone campaign staff and electoral supervisors.

It took Abu Zaid one month to make arrangements to transport election materials from Gaza City to Rafah, although the official campaign period, commencing 25 December, is only two weeks long. For weeks his office submitted repeated applications for permission to transport campaign materials that were declined, and eventually the material had to be transported in UN vehicles to clear the checkpoints. It has not been possible to unify procedures between the West Bank and Gaza, such as the training of thousands of supervisors, mostly teachers, who will be manning the polling stations on election day.

The on going violence in the Gaza Strip has made it difficult for Palestinian residents to become engaged in the election. Five Palestinians were killed in Khan Yunis, a southern refugee camp, the day of the press event. Two teenage Palestinian civilians, one with Down's Syndrome, were hit by Israeli gun fire and the other three slain were members of Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. When the candidates attended their funerals to pay their respects they were met with negativity, recounted Abu Zaid. A total of 12 Palestinians have been killed to date and Israel has yet to indicate an end to the raid.

The CEC has not been able to ameliorate the situation since they deal directly with the Civil Affairs Ministry of the Palestinian Authority and not the Israeli government.

Palestinian institutions are struggling to rapidly formalise and professionalise themselves with little resources and a wide technology gap between the Palestinian occupied territories and Israel. CEC expects the number of journalists covering the election on 9 January to number a thousand and are trying to provide resources and facilities, while developing their own system of accreditation in a culture in which meetings with government officials can often be held without an appointment.

Hanna Nasser, CEC chairman and one of nine elections commissioners, and president of Birzeit University, reiterated the CEC's commitment to holding free and fair elections and requested that members of the press and international observers give exposure to all candidates. The commissioners are comprised of Palestinian judges, lawyers, and academics from Birzeit and An-Najah National Universities.

International media professionals and observers were in attendance, including journalists from Japan, China, Canada, Australia, and a strong presence of female Palestinian journalists representing media outlets such as Sky News from the UK and JIJI Press from Japan. The CEC is funded by the Japanese and Canadian governments, along with support from liaison offices of the United Nations. It has been speculated that Japan, the largest donor nation to the Palestinians, is motivated by geopolitical forces related to its dependency on the Middle East for almost 90 per cent of its oil.

If there was a future embargo the Japanese could rely on this support to act as a catalyst for a continued oil supply from Arab Nations. After the US, Japan is the world's largest oil importer.

Frontrunner Mahmoud Abbas, who succeeded Yasser Arafat as chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and the candidate of the mainstream Fatah Party has a significant lead over his nearest rival, Mustafa Barghouti, a physician and independent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. There are a total of seven candidates on the ballot.

Israel's cabinet adopted a series of measures on 26 December aimed at facilitating Palestinian elections, stating the presidential election will be held along the same framework as the 1996 elections. Supposedly Palestinians will be given greater freedom of movement and Israeli troops will pull out of Palestinian population centres over a 72-hour period before, during, and after the election. Additionally, candidates are allowed limited campaigning in East Jerusalem; they are allowed to hang posters and distribute campaign literature, but rallies in public places are prohibited.

The campaign is in full swing in Ramallah; campaign posters, billboards and banners adorn the cityscape, political rallies are being held, and the pulse of a national election beats through the city centre. In contrast, there is little electoral activity in East Jerusalem where Barghouti was arrested this week while campaigning in the Old City, the second time he has been arrested for his mere presence during the campaign. Israeli police have been spotted tearing down campaign posters in the night and those remaining are only for Abbas, in an effort to quell any public display of a Palestinian national election out of fear it may colour Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital.

Ahmed Mansour, a 23 year old Palestinian police officer in Ramallah, stated he would vote for Abbas because "he is the heir to Arafat."

Working at the Plaza Shopping Centre it takes him nearly two hours to travel to work from his home in Deir Jarir, a trip that would otherwise take 15 minutes without traversing four checkpoints.

Inside the shopping centre three young female students from Birzeit University enjoy ice cream sundaes around a small table. Two of the women will vote for Abbas affirming he will "make their situation better", and the third is undecided. At 18 they are pondering viable solutions to the occupation through a pink aura of hope.

It has been suggested by Palestinians and the international community alike, that if Abbas is unable to resume successful negotiations with the Israelis to end the military occupation, and if Fatah is unable to reform the Palestinian Authority, a third Intifada will erupt. It is hard to envision this will be the next step for the Palestinian people considering the sense of hope and desire for fair negotiation that permeates their dialogue at this time.