Since scheduling the first Palestinian elections to be held in 15 years, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has lifted financial sanctions imposed on Gaza workers in what critics say is a political bribe to gain election support.
Abbas, the head of the Fatah movement which leads the government in the West Bank, has in recent days issued several orders to ease sanctions and settle outstanding issues in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.
Since scheduling the first Palestinian elections to be held in 15 years, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has lifted financial sanctions imposed on Gaza workers in what critics say is a political bribe to gain election support.
The lifting of the sanctions and the settling of “outstanding issues for the Gaza Strip employees” is an effort to “create a positive national atmosphere that paves the way for a new phase in the wake of new national understandings and as a prelude to the Palestinian democratic process in a comfortable atmosphere,” Hussein Al Sheikh, head of the General Authority of Civil Affairs, tweeted on Tuesday.
Among the significant decisions were settling salary issues for PA employees in Gaza by paying them the same full salaries as in the West Bank, and abolishing compulsory retirement.
Despite the importance of these decisions, if they are implemented, the timing of the announcements for just before the elections has irritated Hamas in Gaza, with critics calling it a shameful bribe.
It’s really shameful to use people’s rights and basic needs, such as medical treatment, in electoral campaigns
“Imposing these sanctions in the first place, and punishing all residents of the Gaza Strip because of political disagreements, is considered a crime,” Hazem Qassem, Hamas spokesperson, told The Media Line.
“We’ve heard, through the media, about the lifting of sanctions, but we haven’t seen anything yet. It’s really shameful to use people’s rights and basic needs, such as medical treatment, in electoral campaigns. It’s a right that these sanctions must be lifted regardless of the political considerations,” he added.
Just days before issuing the presidential decree setting the dates for the Palestinian parliamentary and presidential elections, Abbas ordered core amendments to the electoral law.
Hisham Kuhail, CEO of the Central Elections Commission – Palestine (CEC), told a local media outlet earlier this month that the “amendment, which was based on consultations between the election commission and all Palestinian factions, included various changes including holding the elections in a successive manner rather than concurrent [such as in 2006] while considering them as a single electoral cycle.”
Moreover, the coming election will include an increase in the quota for women’s representation from 20% to 26%, Kuhail added.
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There also are amendments regarding judicial authority, which are concerning to the legal community.
Salah Abdelati, an attorney and chairman of the International Commission to Support Palestinian People’s Rights, told The Media Line that Abbas made “several adjustments that everyone fears, most notably those related to judicial authority.”
Abdelati said that the decisions will impose a firmer control on judicial authority by the executive powers.
“This will directly affect the coming elections,” he said. He added that “minimal amendments have been made to the election law just to satisfy some players, but there are mines in the law that will explode in the faces of the panelists in Cairo if we don’t find a legal and political approach to guarantee the success of the electoral process.”
The chairman of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission, Hanna Nasser, said last week that the Palestinian factions will meet in Cairo in the coming days to agree on the technical issues necessary for the conduct of the electoral process in an integrated, fair and transparent manner.
These amendments have infuriated Hamas, which condemned them saying that they are totally “rejected.”
“The recent successive decisions issued by the president of the PA aim to seize the judicial authority and control its will unconstitutionally, and violate any independence of the judiciary, which indicates the direction of the authority’s leadership to continue controlling public freedoms and rights,” Qassem said earlier this month.
In light of Abbas’ big promises, what does Hamas have to persuade the average voter?
Gaza-based political analyst Raed Nijem told The Media Line that Hamas will act on two fronts.
“First, it will attempt to politically persuade the public that it’s sticking to national unity and that it was not forced to go to elections but went because of its authentic convictions,” Nijem said.
In addition, according to Nijem, Hamas is relying on a large segment of “bureaucratic civil and security bodies, which constitute a hard electoral core for Hamas. Throughout the past 15 years, those bodies have worked for Hamas and have been exposed to serious pressure, such as the scarce and low salaries, so Hamas might start giving them their rights. Another thing which Hamas does [during its campaigns], is distributing assistance and food aid to needy families via its societies and mosques.”
Nijem believes that neither Hamas alone nor Fatah alone can handle resolving major issues such as the high rates of unemployment, the collapsed health system and the stagnant economy because this “needs a unified national vision.”
As the date of elections approaches, Palestinian hopes of settling down and ending an era of deterioration are pinned upon the success of this poll.
I’ll make sure to choose the list that supports Palestinian culture and education, because culture is what brings civilization, national renaissance; in fact, culture is what brings bread. I know that there are bigger-than-us realities but we need that change
The Gazan street is cautious though.
Hani Al-Salmi, a Gaza-based writer and novelist who has received international awards for his children’s literature, works 12 hours a day selling coffee from a tiny cart.
Al-Salmi told The Media Line that “writers and intellectuals here in Gaza are the same as drivers, carpenters and workers. They are disappointed and oppressed.”
“I work 12 hours on the streets to make a few shekels to feed my family. If this time [the election] works, I’ll make sure to choose the list that supports Palestinian culture and education, because culture is what brings civilization, national renaissance; in fact, culture is what brings bread. I know that there are bigger-than-us realities but we need that change,” Al-Salmi said.