News Analysis: No horizon for holding Palestinian general elections

Although the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) announced earlier that it is prepared for holding the general elections, which haven't been held since 2006, Palestinian observers said they see no horizon for holding it in the Palestinian territories in the near future.

CEC officials accomplished the registration of one million Palestinian voters in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, and gave a copy of the record to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other political factions, hoping that this would help setting up a date for holding the elections soon.

However, Palestinian analysts believe that so far there are no positive indications in relation to setting up a date for holding the general elections in the Palestinian territories soon amid a deep internal division.

The last parliamentary election was held in the Palestinian territories in 2006, when Islamic Hamas movement defeated Fatah Party and won a majority in the parliament. The last presidential election was held in 2005, when President Abbas won the election.

After Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, the internal division appeared between the West Bank which is under the control of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the Gaza Strip.

Holding elections has been a major article in all agreements and understandings reached between Fatah and Hamas in Cairo and Qatar. However, the two rivals never stopped trading accusations on who is the side that still obstructs implementing it.

Observers said lack of trust between the two rivals and lack of guarantees to respect the results of the elections are the major reasons for obstructing the democratic process. Hamas spokesman and PNA officials slam each other for any remarks they made in relation to reconciliation.

Mohanad Abdul Hamid, a Ramallah-based political analyst, told Xinhua that Abbas set a condition for the coming elections, which he demands a written guarantee from Hamas to respect the results, and this "means that President Abbas wants to get Hamas guarantee that it will end its control of the Gaza Strip."

"The crisis of blocking holding the elections is very complicated and it is not only related to getting a written guarantee from Hamas, but also related to the accurate and full implementation of the reached reconciliation agreements on the ground," said Abdul Hamid.

In June last year, Fatah and Hamas agreed to form a consensus government, and agreed that the mission of the new government is to unify the official Palestinian establishments in the West Bank and Gaza, and prepare for holding the general elections within six months.

The unity government was formed, but over the past year it had faced difficulties. One of the main reasons is that Hamas refuses to hand over the security control to the new government, mainly the control of crossing points around the Gaza Strip.

Mohamed Rafiq Awad, the political science professor at al-Quds University in the West Bank, told Xinhua that "there are no new horizons for holding the general elections in the nearest future," adding that "the ongoing yarn between Fatah and Hamas over holding the elections is just for media consumption and just a waste of time."

"The reconciliation between the two has become uncontrolled because regional powers, mainly from Israel have become involved in it," he said.

Palestinian observers believe that Fatah and Hamas are not ready so far to carry on with a real reconciliation and to share a real national responsibility in order to go to the ballots.

Hani al-Masri, head of Badil Center for Researches and Studies, told Xinhua that the two parts of the internal division are sharing common responsibility for obstructing the elections, adding that "it is impossible right now to speak about the seriousness of holding elections." Endit