Elections in the Palestinian Territories?

By: Lisa Fiorilli

In the past few days, news has come from the Palestinian Authority that they are intending to call elections in the West Bank and Gaza. Fayyad declared that elections would be held following the popular uprisings that have swept the region in recent times, and Hamas had a very strong reaction to the news of municipal elections on June 9th 2011.
Hamas released a statement that advised of their intentions to boycott the elections (meaning that they will not occur in Gaza). The argument that they advanced was that any elections proposed by the PA were 'illegitimate' because of their cooperation with the "occupation" in the West Bank, which they categorized as suppressing that freedom of Palestinians in the area and called the government of the PA a "farce". The most interesting aspect of Hamas' argument is the fact that they accuse the PA of calling elections in order to divert attention from the Palestine Papers that are being leaked by Al Jazeera.
How was this interpreted?
Jerusalem Post ran several articles on Hamas' refusal to take part in elections, and they mainly emphasized the perceived lack of legitimacy that the PA and Fatah have among Palestinians, and make special note of the fact that Hamas feels that having elections in the West Bank alone would further "consolidate divisions among Palestinians". In a second article, they emphasize the role that the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan have played in forcing the PA to come out and propose municipal elections in order to possibly prevent a similar uprising.
In another Israeli newspaper, Ynet News, the emphasis on the fact that in the last elections, Hamas proved to be an electoral force to be reckoned with. In contrast to the Jerusalem Post articles, there was more examination of the distinct criticisms that Hamas advanced to explain their boycott. Similarly to the Jerusalem Post interpretation, the role of the popular uprisings was advanced as an important part of the decision to hold elections in the territories.


Interestingly, these articles share a tone that Hamas has legitimate concerns and reservations about the intentions of the PA and Fatah is presenting these elections when they did. The idea of timing here is quite important, especially within the context of what we are seeing in Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan. The separate news that the PA has tried to limit pro-democracy rallies in support of the Egyptian revolts presents an interesting additional element to this dynamic. The Israeli media has highlighted the fact that the PA may have been pressured to hold elections as an attempt to avoid similar popular revolt, and also has made mention of their weakened bargaining position in light of the Palestine Papers.

Does Hamas have a legitimate reason to block these elections from happening in Gaza? What are the implications of this decision?

Links:
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=207348
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=206408
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4025799,00.html

Photo:
The People of Pakistan Blog