Kim Bullimore, West Bank
Ten candidates, including jailed Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, have nominated to contest the January 9 Palestinian presidential elections. Barghouti, who had previously said he would not contest the elections in order to back the Fatah candidate, Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen), appears set to run as an independent candidate.
Barghouti's wife and brother payed the $3000 registration free and submitted the 5000 signatures required to the electoral commission on December 1, just hours before the midnight deadline for the nomination of candidates.
Barghouti's nomination has been condemned by leading members of the Fatah movement, including Tayeb Abdel Rahim, the secretary-general of the Fatah Central Committee. Abdel Rahim was reported in the Ha'aretz newspaper as saying that Barghouti's decision was an "irresponsible step".
The surprise re-emergence of Barghouti as a candidate for the presidency has also been condemned by the president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, who said it would damage Palestinian unity, while US Secretary of State Colin Powell described Barghouti's candidature as "problematic".
Barghouti, who had been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly and the leader of the Fatah-Tanzim faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, has long had popular grassroots support amongst the Palestinian people. He is currently serving five consecutive Israeli jail terms, totalling 100 years. He was jailed because of his supposed involvement in coordinating attacks on Israel. Barghouti has consistently denied any such involvement.
A September survey on elector voting intentions conducted by Bir Zeit University prior to former PA president Yasser Arafat's death revealed that Barghouti would have received the second highest vote, at 12%, after Yasser Arafat. The same survey also revealed Abu Mazen would have received only 0.5%, the lowest vote in a field of eleven candidates.
Only two other parties, outside Fatah, have nominated candidates for the January 9 presidential election. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine will run Tayssir Khaled, while the People's Party (formerly the Palestinian Communist Party) has nominated Bassam al Salhi.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, consistent with their boycott of the Oslo accords, which established the existence of the Palestinian Authority, will not be running candidates. According to Hamas spokespeople, all Hamas members will boycott the election, but they are not calling on the wider Palestinian population to do the same, as they did in 1996.
Other independent candidates standing for the presidential position include parliamentary speaker Hassan Khreisheh, and democracy and civil rights campaigner Dr Mustafa Barghouti. Mustafa Barghouti is currently the secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, which was co-founded by himself, Dr. Haidar Abdel-Shafi, Ibrahim Dakak and Dr. Edward Said.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has announced that its members will serve as election monitors. During the election campaign period, the ISM will work to monitor and document Israeli measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, that obstruct or limit the ability of Palestinians to run smooth and democratic elections.
This will include monitoring military checkpoints, election campaign meetings, information dissemination and freedom of speech and movement, particularly in East Jerusalem, where prior to Arafat's death, the Israeli police had raided and closed down several Palestinian voter registration booths. For more information on the ISM election monitoring campaign see <http://www.palsolidarity.org>.
[Kim Bullimore is a member of the Socialist Alliance. She is currently working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the International Women's Peace Service].
From Green Left Weekly, December 8, 2004.
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