By Omar Shaban: Towards comprehensive Palestinian municipal elections

Toward comprehensive Palestinian municipal elections

Omar Shaban

Introduction:

The Palestinian accord government announced that the elections of the municipal councils in Palestine will be held next October, and they will be, for the second time, without the Gaza governorates. This represents a flight from facing the division and its destructive repercussions. It may be somewhat justified that the elections took place the first time without the Gaza governorates under the shadows of the political division, but there is absolutely nothing that justifies not holding them at one time in light of the national accord government formed at the beginning of June 2014. The recognition by the United Nations and some Western states of Palestine as a state obliges the Palestinian political system to act as a state. How does the political system accept municipal elections in a part of the homeland while demanding that the world deal with it as the system of a state!

An opportunity to strengthen the comprehensive reconciliation:

I can almost assert that holding the municipal elections in both areas forms a great opportunity that must be exploited to face the repercussions of the division and separation — especially with the ease of accomplishing them compared with the elections of the Legislative Council and the presidency, in a way that paves the way for them and creates a qualified ground for their implementation. Holding the municipal elections in the northern governorates only means that the national accord government has voluntarily relinquished a part of its powers, and confirms, most regrettably, that it does not see itself as a government for the whole of the Palestinian collective. In return, the accord government's insistence on municipal elections in both areas will greatly strengthen its image and will place all the components of the political system in the corner of questioning should they not cooperate in its implementation. The honour of the announcement and the attempt suffices the national accord government if it cannot implement it. In addition to being a constitutional entitlement and a popular right, the municipal elections at the national level are an important additional step toward completing the efforts of the reconciliation process.

The modesty of progress in completing the required reconciliations in multiple fields, despite the signing of the reconciliation agreement and the formation of a national accord government, has caused much frustration and despair in Palestinian society. Therefore the unified municipal elections represent a golden opportunity to achieve true progress in the long reconciliation process, and strengthen hope in the integrated national unity.

The municipal reconciliation at the heart of the national reconciliation:

Terms such as ending the division, national reconciliation, and national unity are tainted by much obscurity and looseness. What is meant by national reconciliation? And what is the achievement upon whose realisation one could say the national reconciliation has actually happened? National reconciliation is not a single station everyone seeks to reach, and it will not happen at one stroke; rather it is a long process with tens of partial and staged stations, which may continue many years. And because the division's repercussions were not confined to the political division, but spread to multiple, intertwined levels, facing the division's repercussions happens through a multiple set of continuous, accumulating policies, procedures, and activities. Any efforts made at the national level are an actual reconciliation process, even if partial. The whole is composed of parts, and national unity is formed of accumulated efforts.

Facing and treating the division's repercussions is not at all an easy process! Therefore one must constantly collide with its causes and repercussions, with complete determination to face them. There is not just one procedure to achieve reconciliation or national unity — the proof being that the formation of the national accord government was not sufficient. Holding the elections of the municipalities, the student councils, the syndicates, and the semi-governmental institutions are actual efforts that strengthen national unity in the face of the division with its multiple repercussions.

The international community will support that

According to my understanding, the international community will receive this position — whether from the accord government or from the Hamas movement — with great welcome, and will work with all its effort to help in its implementation through providing the financial capabilities, technical support, and oversight of the elections process. As a reminder, the municipalities sector is the closest to the people of the political track, and opens the field for many international institutions to work with the Gaza Strip's municipalities in carrying out large infrastructure projects, in a way that contributes to easing the catastrophic conditions. Holding the elections in the local-government sector in the Gaza Strip especially will restore life to the democratic condition and will give an opportunity to society, especially the youth, for actual participation in the political and democratic process. The young generations who did not take part in the 2006 elections because of their young age at that time will practise for the first time the opportunity of choosing their representatives in the municipalities sector.

Proposed practical steps:

• The national accord government declares plainly that the municipal elections will take place in the northern and southern governorates on the same day. Such a declaration will place all the parties before their national responsibility and before a true test in which I think everyone will seek to succeed.
• The Hamas movement and all the political forces declare their readiness to cooperate and facilitate the holding of the elections in the Gaza Strip in parallel with those in the northern governorates.
• Civil society organisations and the popular and youth gatherings, which have not stopped demanding the ending of the division, make this goal the first of their priorities.
• The Central Elections Commission, in consultation with the official and popular bodies, sets a working plan for holding the elections in the State of Palestine and the guarantees required for their implementation.

Let “Toward comprehensive Palestinian municipal elections” be the priority in 2016.

May 2016 .