Palestinians: We Want Democratic Elections, Too

by Khaled Abu Toameh • March 13, 2015 at 5:00 am

"We really envy the Israelis. Our leaders don't want elections. They want to remain in office forever." — Veteran Palestinian journalist from Ramallah.

The truth is that neither Fatah nor Hamas is interested in holding new parliamentary and presidential elections -- each for its own reasons.

One man, one vote, one time? Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (left) and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas (also president of the Palestinian Authority) are pictured voting in the last election for the Palestinian Legislative Council, which took place in 2006.

As Israelis prepare to head to the ballot boxes on March 17, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are wondering whether they, too, will ever have the privilege of holding their own free and democratic elections.

In the past few weeks, Palestinians have launched a campaign to demand free and democratic elections. But the campaign seems thus far to have fallen on deaf ears.

All that is left for Palestinians to do is sit and watch with envy as voters in Israel practice their right to elect new representatives.

The average age of the PLO leadership is 75. The same faces have been in control of Hamas for the past two decades.

The last time the Palestinians went to the ballot boxes was in January 2006, when they voted for a new parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council. The vote resulted in a victory for the Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform list.