Wednesday's parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority are an important milestone in the short history of this political entity. It was not at all obvious that they would take place: The PA has held only one previous parliamentary election, 10 years ago.
The next election was supposed to have been held in 2000, toward the end of the period covered by the Oslo interim agreement, but it was postponed due to the outbreak of the intifada. After that, there were a few other attempts to organize elections, but all failed.
The lack of security in the West Bank and Gaza and the decline of the central government has brought the PA to the brink of anarchy. Today's elections are a chance to correct this a chance to establish a new parliament and a new government that will finally implement PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' repeated declarations about ‘one law, one government and one gun.’
Palestinian spokesmen spoke a great deal yesterday about a ‘festival of democracy,’ describing a carnival atmosphere in the territories in advance of today's balloting. The Palestinian media deliveredinstructions to the public, stressing in particular that people carrying arms are not allowed to come near the polling stations.
While Israelis and others are concerned by Hamas' participation and expected success in the elections, almost all Palestinian political activists expressed great satisfaction over Hamas' entry into organized political life.
Senior PA officials and the Palestinian media argued repeatedly that Hamas' presence in the legislature, and perhaps even in the government, did not symbolize a retreat from the diplomatic process, but rather a step forward.
As Mohammed Dahlan told his rivals from Hamas at a campaign appearance in Gaza, ‘the very existence of the Palestinian Authority, and these elections, are the result of the Oslo Accords.’ In other words, the very fact that Hamas is participating in the election proves that it sees no choice but to accept the Oslo Accords.
Hamas has tried to rebut these arguments. Its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, argued that the Oslo Accords died years ago, and that this election is being held in a manner that differs both technically and substantively from the earlier one: Instead of 88 parliamentary representatives, all elected by district, there will be 132 representatives, half elected by district and half on national lists.
Surprisingly, Islamic Jihad supports Fatah and the PA in this argument.
Islamic Jihad is the only Palestinian faction not running in the elections, and its spokesmen agree that participating in them constitutes indirect recognition of Oslo. But all the other opposition factions are running, including two that, like Hamas, boycotted the 1996 elections because of their opposition to Oslo: the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
This makes it possible to hope that perhaps Abbas and his colleagues are right: That a new parliament and a new government, in which Hamas and the left participate, might ltimately advance the diplomatic process rather than halt it.