Palestinians will hold their first national elections in 15 years, and while many welcomed the announcement on Friday (January 15), many are also skeptical, they will bring about any change – or even happen.
President Mahmoud Abbas said parliamentary and presidential elections will be held later this year in an attempt to heal long-standing divisions.
Its main rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, welcomed the move.
The Palestinians to whom Reuters spoke were cautiously optimistic.
“We need a democratic structure that can bring about radical changes, whether in the government or the national council that has existed for years, which needs renewal and young blood, to build a free democratic nation that is built on all Palestinian territories.”
” This is a 100% good decision, deserved for more than 15 years, if not more, we must be starting a state and, therefore, we must have democracy, and democracy are elections. “
The divided territory is plagued by political struggles and distrust of institutions.
The announcement is widely seen as a gesture intended to please US President-elect Joe Biden. Palestinians are eager to restart relations after they reached a low point with Donald Trump.
It is not clear whether Abbas, 85, who is in poor health, will run.
A December survey by the Palestinian for Policy and Survey Research revealed that 52% of Palestinians think that elections held under current conditions would not be fair and free.
If Hamas won, 76% felt that Fatah – a party led by Abbas – would not accept the result.
58% believe that Hamas would reject a Fatah victory.
Gaza is a stronghold of Hamas, while Abbas’ power base is in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The two groups failed to achieve a lasting reconciliation and previous electoral promises were not kept.
Video transcription
– Palestinians will hold their first national elections in 15 years. And while many welcomed the announcement on Friday, many are also skeptical that they will bring about any change, or even happen.
President Mahmoud Abbas said parliamentary and presidential elections will be held later this year in an attempt to heal long-standing divisions. Its main rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, welcomed the move. The Palestinians to whom Reuters spoke were cautiously optimistic.
– [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: We need a democratic structure that can bring about radical changes, whether in the government or in the national council that has existed for years, which needs renewal and young blood, to build a free democratic nation that is built on all Palestinian territories.
– [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
INTERPRETER: This is a 100% right decision, deserved for more than 15 years, if not more. We must be starting a state and, therefore, we must have democracy. And democracy is elections.
– The divided territory is plagued by internal political struggles and distrust of institutions. The announcement is widely seen as a gesture aimed at pleasing US President-elect Joe Biden. Palestinians are eager to restart relations after they reached a low point with Donald Trump.
It is not clear whether Abbas, 85, who is in poor health, will run. A December survey by the Palestinian for Policy and Survey Research revealed that 52% of Palestinians think that elections held under current conditions would not be fair and free. If Hamas won, 76% felt that Fatah, a party led by Abbas, would not accept the result. 58% believe that Hamas would reject a Fatah victory.
Gaza is a stronghold of Hamas, while Abbas’ power base is in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The two groups have not achieved a lasting reconciliation. And previous electoral promises have not been kept.