«Electoral Issues», episode four with the Central Elections Commission: elections' role in resolving conflict peacefully — past experiences

Dr Ghassan Abu Hatab, coordinator of the Center for Development Studies of Birzeit University, affirmed that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights set down that elections are a human right.

This came during the fourth radio episode, titled “The role of elections in resolving conflict by peaceful means — previous experiences”, of the “Electoral Issues” programme within the project “Toward a society more aware of its electoral rights”, implemented by Pal-Think for Strategic Studies in cooperation with the Central Elections Commission, and within the project “Partnership with civil-society institutions / phase two 2021”, funded by the European Union.

He said: “It is true that elections are the pillar of democratic building, yet they alone will not guarantee a democratic transformation as we aspire, because there is no legitimacy for elections without the legitimacy of consensus — and in our Palestinian case we are in the direst need of a consensus built on political, organisational, social, and economic foundations”.

Abu Hatab made clear that the holding of elections is affected by several factors, such as: the nature of the political system, the social structure, and an upright judiciary — pointing out that elections are a means, but democracy is the goal and the end, and it is not permissible to make them the end.

He added: “There must be agreement on an electoral mechanism that allows handing governance to an elected government accepted by all, and on the matter of Jerusalem — to move society from a state of conflict, violence, division, and fragmentation to a state of cohesion and transformation toward democracy”.

He affirmed the prominent role played by the balance of the contending forces and the strength of the standing institutions, among them civil society, in the peaceful transfer of power — adding that the division is the principal cause of the elections' absence.

He concluded, saying: “The system of full proportional representation will be the electoral system, and any list wishing to stand must approve the declaration of independence”.