On Thursday, 23 December 2004, Palestinian voters in 26 local electoral bureaus will go to ballot centers to vote in the first elections for local councils in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) since the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in May 1994. This step is a part of the first stage of a plan to hold elections for local councils at stages. This stage will be completed with a similar ballot to be held on 27 January 2005 in the Gaza Strip. While PCHR welcomes holding free and impartial elections for any local council, it calls upon the PNA not to make the elections limited to the 23 December ballot and to reconsider other stages of the elections for other local councils to be held together on a specific time, shortly following the presidential election which will be held on 9 January 2005.
Preparations for holding elections for
Palestinian local councils started with the establishment of a committee
for elections of Palestinian local councils, the Higher Election Committee
(HEC) according to presidential decree 8 of 2004, which was issued on 24
May 2004. HEC decided a date for the first stage of elections in
light of the instability in the OPT, as Israeli occupation forces have
continued to attack Palestinian civilians. In this context, preparations
have started to hold elections for 26 local councils in the West Bank,
the biggest of which are those of Jericho and Salfit, while the rest of
the councils are those of a number of villages in 11 districts. This
stage is expected to be completed on 27 January 2005 for 10 local councils
in the Gaza Strip, the biggest of which are those of the towns of Deir
al-Balah and Beit Hanoun.
Holding elections for local councils has been demanded by PCHR, other civil society organizations and political parties since the establishment of the PNA in 1994. However, since its establishment, the PNA has appointed members of local councils in the West Bank and Gaza Strip based on tribal and political considerations. Although the PNA promulgated Law 5 of 1996 relating to local councils elections, and Law 1 of 1997 relating to local councils, the PNA has not made efforts to hold elections for local councils and have continued to appoint their members.
While PCHR welcomes the 23 December elections,
it calls upon the PNA to reconsider holding such elections at stages, especially
as the presidential election will be held on 9 January 2005. If the
political environment is appropriate to hold such elections, PCHR believes
that there will be no need to hold the elections at stages. Consequently,
PCHR calls upon the PNA to hold elections for local councils in other districts
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip at once. As there is an intention
to hold parliamentary elections also, it may be suitable to hold both elections
at once to save time, money and efforts.
For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 - 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal,
PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip.
E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org,
Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org