Summary
The Oct. 20, 2012 municipal polls, the first to be held in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) since 2006, took place under significant pressures, including the conduct of elections while under Israeli occupation, the political impasse between the two leading Palestinian political movements, and the continued erosion of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms by political actors in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Although well administered by the Central Elections Commission (CEC), the polls were marked by a lack of political pluralism and limited competition, with one major party boycotting the polls. Despite these challenges, and considering that elections at all levels in the OPT are long overdue, these polls are a positive but limited step towards the realization of democratization in the OPT.
The municipal elections help to begin revitalizing local governance structures whose mandate had expired 3 and 4 years ago. In the most severe instances, local bodies had not been elected in decades. The Oct. 20 polls were conducted in 26 percent of the municipalities in the West Bank, covering an estimated 52 percent of the population. A lack of political competition resulted in the election by acclamation of candidate lists in 181 locations. Citing harassment of its members and the need for political reconciliation before the holding of elections, Hamas boycotted the polls.
The impact of the Israeli occupation on the electoral process and democracy building within the (OPT) cannot be underestimated, as it profoundly impedes the exercise of Palestinian rights of assembly, association, speech, movement and other fundamental freedoms. Moreover, the impasse within the Palestinian political system, particularly the conflict between Fatah and Hamas, cannot be disconnected from this wider framework of disempowerment and the lack of the right to self-determination.
While the occupation hinders genuine democratic development, the two main Palestinian political parties have not taken sufficient steps within their control to help ensure democratic governance. The internal political divide has prevented the conduct of democratic elections at all levels throughout the OPT for years. While the Oct. 20 municipal elections were conducted without major security incidents, the political and electoral environment surrounding the municipal polls restricted the full enjoyment of voters' political and civic rights, underscoring an urgent need for Palestinian political leaders to overcome the deepening rift between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Prolonged failure to implement political reconciliation agreements has contributed to a serious and increasingly permanent division of the Palestinian people and territory. The Palestinian people have suffered under governing regimes with decreasing legitimacy, human rights abuses including political detention and arrests against supporters of rival political factions and the abuse of fundamental freedoms. The Carter Center urges Palestinian leaders to proceed with reconciliation as established in the Cairo and Doha agreements, including the holding of much needed and belated national elections, the formation of an interim government and the renewed respect for human rights in the OPT.
In response to an invitation from the Central Election Commission (CEC), The Carter Center conducted a pre-election assessment Sept. 17-24. Based on this visit, the Center decided to deploy a study mission due to concerns that the environment in which the elections were held inhibited the full exercise of political and participatory rights. Study mission members, accredited as guests by the CEC, were deployed Oct 15-20 and assessed specific aspects of the electoral process related to the legal framework and the administration of the local government elections. The study mission met with election officials, political party and civil society representatives, members of the international community, and other stakeholders in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem.
This statement provides comments on the electoral environment, the legal framework of the elections, the political space circumscribing the electoral competition and the dynamics of democratic participation in the OPT. It offers recommendations for future electoral processes to Palestinian authorities, political parties and civil society in the spirit of support for the strengthening of democratic participation in the OPT. The electoral process is studied against the Palestinian legal and election administration framework as well as international commitments agreed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) for democratic elections, the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the OPT. Carter Center electoral study missions are limited in nature. In this case, the study mission did not deploy observers to polling stations and could not consider all aspects of the electoral process. Therefore, The Carter Center is unable to make a comprehensive assessment of this electoral process.