A lecture on the relationship between the three branches in a democratic system

In an atmosphere of culture, science, and knowledge, the language of dialogue and understanding prevailed among the cultured to support and strengthen the Palestinian reconciliation, as the Pal-Think for Strategic Studies institution organised the third lecture, titled “The relation between the three powers in the democratic system”, within the project “Strengthening the democratic and civic values of the youth” in the Gaza Strip, with the participation of 21 young men and women and university students. Mr Omar Shaban, director of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, spoke of the project, which targets the youth category, considering them the largest stratum in society, to raise their levels of democratic and civic knowledge — making clear that the youth, over the years of the division, were its most prominent victim, as the democratic process and the elections froze, which deprived the youth of exercising one of their fundamental rights, namely participating in shaping the political system through the ballot boxes. And here comes the role of civil-society organisations in helping the youth to build awareness and strengthen it through democratic and civic education; therefore came the idea of the project of strengthening the democratic and civic values of the youth, to serve this direction Pal-Think strives for in strengthening the democratic concepts and practices among Palestinian youth.
In her turn, Dr Zainab al-Ghneimi, director of the Centre for Legal Research, Consultation, and Protection for Women, pointed during the lecture to the definition of the democratic system and its principles, and the powers in their three types — legislative, judicial, and executive — and the ways of separation between them and the problems they fall into according to the Basic Law. She spoke of the functions of each power and the duties falling upon it, the democratic concept of the principle of the separation of powers, the overlap between them, and the competence of each power. The meeting witnessed great interaction from the youth, who called at the meeting's end for the necessity of unifying the youth efforts in order to wrest a true role for the youth during the coming stage, and demanded of the civil-society organisations the contribution to building the democratic and rights awareness among the youth stratum so that they can rise and demand their rights during the coming stage. Noting that this project, which continues for six months with funding from the Canadian government, includes ten educational lectures and radio episodes on the issues of democracy and political development in Palestinian society, in addition to three training courses in subjects related to fighting corruption and strengthening the instruments of societal accountability and transparency in Palestinian society — as Pal-Think has worked on bringing in scientific and specialised competences in this field during the project's period.