By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Failure to hold Palestinian parliamentary elections by the date set in an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation document is a violation of Palestinians’ right to democratic elections, according to the Al-Marsad Center for Human Rights. The human rights organization, based out of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, issued a statement on January 25, saying that the mandate for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) had expired, and called upon Hamas to sign the reconciliation agreement and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to set a date for elections in June, the date called for by the reconciliation document.

 

As the expiration date for PLC members’ terms passed, the two major Palestinian parties argued about what the PLC’s next move should be. Hamas declared that their members’ mandate only ends when new parliamentarians have been sworn in, and are therefore allowed to remain in office until new elections are held. Fatah argued that the PLC’s mandate was legally over.

 

The PLC is the main legislative branch of the Palestinian territorial government, and is based in the West Bank. Hamas took control of the PLC in a landslide election in January 2006, replacing Fatah as the dominant party in the PLC. Since the Hamas take-over, however, the PLC has been largely unable to function, as Israel arrested most of the Hamas representatives after Hamas militants led a cross-border raid into Israel and captured an Israeli citizen. Both Hamas and Fatah representatives have been arrested by opposing parties, as long-standing animosity between the factions have grown stronger in the past few years.

 

Al-Marsad said in its statement that the current PLC should be regarded as a “caretaker council with limited powers,” and that “[n]ot holding elections on their legal and constitutional day is a serious violation of the right of the Palestinian citizens to practice their right to political participation through voting.”

 

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)’s Central Council met in Ramallah in December 2009 and asked the Palestinian president and legislature to continue in office until elections are held. Hamas has not recognized the Central Council’s decision.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Ha’aretz – Fatah and Hamas No Nearer to Unity as Palestinian Parliament’s Term Ends – 25 January 2010

 

Ma’an News Agency – Rights Org: Failure to Hold Elections Violates Palestinian Rights – 25 January 2010

 

Palestinian News Network – Human Rights Organization: Position Paper on Elections – 25 January 2010

 

Ynet News – Palestinian Parliament’s Term Expires – 24 January 2010