Mediterranean Politics | Middle East Palestinian Municipal Elections: a Gradual Change

Hassan Balawi ities hostile or at least distant from the December 2004. This date was scrupu- In charge of the francophone pro- PLO The effects produced were quite lously adhered to, despite the death of Panorama gramme and Euro-Mediterranean the opposite the majority of those who President . relations won the municipal elections being very Palestinian Broadcasting close to the Palestinian centre. Corporation At this point the Israeli authorities re- Election phases sorted to the exile or imprisonment of its elected mayors, eventually allowing The law on local elections passed in De-

groups of fanatic Israelis to attack those cember 1996 allowed the election of 2006 After boycotting the , which elected by the . Since then municipal council members to take were signed in September 1993 as part no election has taken place in the Pales- place with voting for a single member Med. of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, tinian territories other than those in- in one round. The number of seats on the Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, volving syndicates. the municipal council depends on the decided to seize hold of the Palestinian Since the return of the PLO in July 1994, number of inhabitants entered on the political system via municipal elections. a new dynamism has been developed, electoral roll. As far as the voters are Ahmed Qureï, ex-Prime Minister of the to the point that for the first time in the concerned, the law indicates that every

Palestinian National Authority, declared Palestinian territories, presidential and person residing in the municipal terri- 127 2004-2005 to be election year for Pales- legislative elections were held in Janu- tory is a citizen, whether it is their place tinians, due to the fact that in the course ary 1996. But at municipal level, things of permanent residence or their place the year several types of election had to were handled differently, through the of work. But it did not give any expla- be held: municipal, legislative, presiden- nomination of municipal councils in the nation about the votes of refugees. An tial, and political elections for the Fatah whole of the and Gaza ter- implicit agreement was made on this movement, the party in power at the ritories. These nominations were con- subject between the minister of local heart of the PLO, and the Palestinian Au- trolled according to a system of regional government and the associations for thority. and tribal balancing inserted in the Pales- the defense of refugees in July 1997, The question of elections was infinite- tinian political system. which established a distinction between ly exploited, sometimes hoped for, even But this question of municipal elections the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. demanded by the USA, notably with was always at the centre of Palestinian Amendments to the electoral law of the declaration of President Bush in internal political and social struggles 1996 were introduced by the govern- June 2002, according to which the or- and demands. Thus the first law passed ment shortly before holding the munic- ganisation of elections and the emer- by the Palestinian legislative council was ipal elections of 2004/2005. The most gence of new leaders were a sine qua precisely one for local communities important was that one establishing a non condition for the creation of The Nevertheless, President Yasser Arafat minimum quota for the representation Palestinian State. This idea of Hamas has always preferred to shelve this ques- of women on municipal councils. This was abandoned when President Yass- tion for political reasons, which notably stipulated the election of at least two er Arafat, surrounded by Israeli tanks reveal the fear of the possible arrival of women per council, whatever the size since January 2001in the Mukataa at Hamas candidates at the head of mu- of the considered conscription. A pres- , decided to organise general nicipal councils. But finally President idential decree of March 2005 equally elections. Yasser Arafat was obliged to give in to established a denominational quota for It should be remembered in this context the demands of the political parties and some localities which were historically that in 1976, when wanted to dis- associated movements. This is how the or in the majority Christian. For the poll credit the PLO representative of the Palestinian Authority decided, after the of May 2005, this involved Bethlehem Palestinian people in Palestine, it al- Legislative Council passed the law of (where 8 out of 15 councilors had to be lowed the organisation of municipal elec- proportional elections, to organise the Christian) Beit Jala and Beit Sahour (7 tions hoping to see emerging personal- first phase of municipal elections on 23 councilors out of 13). 128 Med. 2006 Panorama West Bank,theFatahmovementwonin In thefirststageofphaseon movement. with theexceptionofIslamicJihad Accords alsotookpartinthiselection, other organizationsopposingtheOslo organization sinceSeptember2003.The movement hadbeenlistedasaterrorist sistance group,Hamas,eventhoughthis tion forthefirsttimeofIslamicre- tinian politicalscenewastheparticipa- The secondimportantfactorinthisPales- elections of9thJanuary2005. and amonthbeforethepresidential death ofthePresidentYasser Arafat first electiontookplace40daysafterthe cipalities. Itshouldbenotedthatthis 2005; itinvolved10GazaStripmuni- election tookplaceon27thJanuary West Bankmunicipalities.Asecond 23rd December2004;itinvolved26 stages: afirstelectiontookplaceon The firstphasewasdevelopedintwo Rise ofHamas trol. trol andnotunderIsraelimilitarycon- in eachlocalityunderPalestiniancon- tions hadtotakeplaceforthefirsttime Thus, accordingtothislogic,theelec- relation totheIsraelioccupyingforces. security ineachPalestinianlocality, in method wasthestablestateofpublic The reasongivenforthisprogressive across allofthePalestinianterritories. adopt a5stageprocessofelections tee ofmunicipalelectionsdecidedto Furthermore, thehighcentralcommit- participation. when Hamasofficiallyannouncedits fore thesecondlegislativeelections 15 thDecember2005,justamonthbe- was alsoheldintheWest Bankonthe and thefourth,mostimportantone, West Bank,onthe29September2005, The thirdphasewasheldsolelyinthe the GazaStripandWest Bank. lify theresultsof4pollingstationsin and thisledtothecourt’sdecisionnul- the electionsincertainpollingstations proceedings overtheproperconductof in thiselection,Fatahinstigatedcourt ent orlessimportantgroups.However, of Hamas,therestgoingtoindepend- municipal councils,comparedtothe28 result allowedFatahtocontrolsome50 pared to34%obtainedbyHamas.This 55% ofthe906availableseatscom- years andeligibletovote.Fatahwon some 400,000peopleagedover18 The levelofparticipationwas82% elect 906membersoflocalcouncils. 400,000 electorswerecalledtovote Morethan and theGazaStrip(8). cils) andvillagesintheWest Bank(76) councils, localvillagecoun- involved 84municipalities(municipal tions tookplaceon5thMay2005;it The secondphaseofthemunicipalelec- Gaza strip. gained 2outof10councilorsinthe 27 January2005,whenFatahonly victory byHamasinthesecondstageon lowed amonthlaterbyverysignificant lamic movement,whichwastobefol- therefore thefirstpenetrationofIs- took controlof9councils.Thiswas 14 municipalcouncils,whilstHamas respected. tional communitytohaveinternationallaw and thepowerlessnessofinterna- to thepursuitofIsraelioccupation, ly tothePalestiniansystemitself,butalso number offactors,linkedsimultaneous- these electionsarethefruitsofacertain It remainsonlytosaythattheresultsof cupying forces. mainly tothepresenceofIsraelioc- ditions despiteallthedifficulties,due under democraticandtransparentcon- and themunicipallevel,wascarriedout ian electionprocess,boththegeneral dicated thatthewholeofPalestin- All thereportsofinternationalteamsin- bron andGaza). and Gaza,suchasthetownsofHe- rest ofthelargetownsinWest Bank September 2006,whichwillinvolvethe take placeinthemonthofAugustor (there remainsa5thphase,whichmust observers inthewholeelectoralprocess important participationofinternational It shouldbenotedthattherewasan council, on25January2006. strong Hamasmajoritytothelegislative later thePalestinianpeopleelecteda tinian politicallandscape,sinceamonth some wayafirstsnapshotofthePales- It couldbesaidthatthisstagewasin of 15municipalities. Islamist grouptotakecontrolof13out of theelectoralvoice,whichallowed thority) Hamaswonanetvictoryof73% Ramallah, (centreofthePalestinianAu- 4 maintownsintheWest Bank,suchas In thisfourthphase,whichwasheldin