Is it easy to hold Palestinian elections? And what is required?

What happens now that President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree last Thursday setting Saturday, November 28, as the date for legislative elections? Is this the whole story? Is it really easy to conduct legislative elections at a time when the Palestinian territories are experiencing a situation akin to chaos in various directions, particularly legislative chaos, especially since legislative life has been disrupted since the political and geographic split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2007? Since that time, the council has not convened under the pretext of not having a legal quorum until President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decision to officially dissolve the council on December 22, 2018, based on a decision issued by the Constitutional Court, calling for new legislative elections, and presidential decrees took its place.

Elections of any kind are a constitutional right and a fundamental tool for change and renewal of legitimacy, but in the Palestinian case, there are many obstacles, including those imposed by the occupation authorities due to the harsh realities of force, as well as those resulting from Palestinian policies that continue to bet on an international community that demands change and renewal of legitimacy but, in turn, is unable to pressure the occupation authorities to adhere to the relevant agreements. Chief among these is Jerusalem, where the occupation authorities prevent any Palestinian activities and categorically refuse any official Palestinian presence there, especially after the American recognition during President Trump's first term in 2017 that it is the capital of Israel. Followed by Hebron, which has had new laws imposed on it by the occupation authorities concerning stripping the planning and building powers from the Hebron municipality and transferring them to what is called the civil administration, as the first practical occupation application to end the implementation of the Hebron Agreement of 1997, establishing a separate colonial municipal entity to manage the affairs of settlers and historical and religious sites, including the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque, along with other settlement steps that effectively abolish the Hebron Protocol, which divided the city into two areas: H1 under Palestinian control, and H2 under Israeli security control. These unilateral measures aim to completely withdraw Palestinian administrative cover from the remaining areas of the city, accompanied by Israeli field control on the ground, in a move where the occupation authorities race against time to legitimize the annexation of vast areas through laws enacted by the extreme right-wing government in what is known as the Knesset, preceded by a complete siege through humiliating military checkpoints and iron gates, which limited the movements of Palestinians between their cities and villages, adversely affecting various aspects of life, alongside widespread arrest campaigns carried out against the Palestinian people, while unleashing extremist settlers to practice various forms of chaos, vandalism, and destruction of Palestinian resources, all under a complete financial blockade through the detention of Palestinian funds.

As for the Gaza Strip, which has been suffering since October 2023, that is another story, as hundreds of thousands of its residents are now without personal documents, and tens of thousands have been erased from the civil registry after their martyrdom, not to mention the lack of suitable polling places to conduct the electoral process after more than 80% of facilities, institutions, and residences were destroyed! All of this occurs without any proportional response from the official Palestinian side.

The official Palestinian system is moving from failure to failure, and it has become incapable of meeting even the urgent needs, primarily the fragmented public sector salaries. It has failed to confront the official Israeli escalation and the settler mobs, and has also failed to address the rising unemployment rates due to the deprivation of Palestinian labor from Israeli job markets. So, is it really easy to hold transparent and fair elections amidst an extremely difficult and complicated Palestinian situation?

Despite the overwhelming desire of the majority of the Palestinian Arab people to conduct legislative elections that could organize their civil life, which is marred by chaos creating a loss of trust between the base and the leadership, what exacerbates matters further is the rampant corruption and the policy of exclusion and marginalization practiced by the ruling leadership against organizational, national, historical, and professional competencies, replacing them with nepotism and appointments tailored to the preferences of "the neck bones." Not to mention the repeated postponements of the elections, and strikingly, despite the failures and incapability, those in power still cling to their leadership positions with little regard for public affairs, which has widened the gap between the leadership and the people.

If the Palestinian leadership is truly serious about holding legislative and parliamentary elections for the State of Palestine, there must be genuine concrete steps to ensure the removal of external and internal obstacles, followed by transparency and integrity! But how?

Externally: It is necessary to start exerting pressure on the international and Arab community that demands it to conduct elections and renew legitimacy but is still unable to compel the occupation authorities to facilitate this and adhere to the agreements. Hence, it is essential to compel them to bear their political and moral responsibilities, and pressure them towards granting Palestinians the full right to conduct elections in Jerusalem according to previous agreements. The leadership is required to formulate a national and diplomatic pressure plan to ensure the participation of Jerusalemites in voting and candidacy within their city and to guarantee that they will not be pursued or arrested, and to remove any potential Israeli obstacles that could disrupt the electoral process. Additionally, work to abolish all unilateral Israeli measures in Hebron and throughout the West Bank, and grant Palestinian candidates and the public complete freedom of movement and practice of their democratic rights, alongside securing guarantees for conducting elections in the Gaza Strip without any Israeli interventions to provide a suitable environment. This should be accompanied by Palestinian conditions that the elections take place in two stages: the first in Jerusalem, Hebron, and the Gaza Strip, under the supervision of the international community and its competent agencies. If successful and facing no obstacles, they could be completed the following day throughout the West Bank.

Internally: Initiate a comprehensive national and popular dialogue that prioritizes the supreme national interest of the Palestinian Arab people over factional and self-interests, and support this with new national tools that enjoy wide public trust and enhance the chances of people's participation in the electoral process, while being careful to select members with experience and professional and national competence, along with a good reputation and involvement in community work. Without a doubt, this will be the beginning of change and may help revive the spirit anew within the people. There is still ample time for good preparation to repair the current fissures, and before anything else, all segments of society must set aside differences and look towards what serves the supreme national interest after agreeing on its definition, while bearing in mind the sensitivity of the current phase that Palestine is undergoing and the dangers that threaten Palestinian existence and the Palestinian cause as a whole.

Palestinians are living in a state of legal and constitutional vacuum, and this may be one of the main reasons for the dire conditions surrounding the Palestinian Arab people. Therefore, it is time to stop the bleeding and return to the people for a new mandate, as elections are not an end in themselves but rather a fundamental pillar and an urgent necessity to establish a sound governance system that ensures a decent life, even at a minimum level for all segments of society, and bolsters resilience towards the goal of freedom and independence.