by Sanaa Kamal
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Jan 18 (NNN-XINHUA) – Jihad Qindah, from Ramallah, breathed a sigh of relief, after hearing that the elections will be held on May 22.
The 35-year-old man, who was elected to the Fatah party in 2006, said, the elections will present him a golden opportunity to choose representatives, who would achieve goals and fulfil Palestinians’ dreams.
Mariam Kurdiya, another Palestinian from Ramallah, said, the internal division of Palestine, destroyed the existence of the Palestinian issue.
“Now it is time to regain our roles in building our country, and restoring the trust and respect into the Palestinian cause,” the young woman said.
She added that, the young generation represents a high percentage of the Palestinian people, which means, they can change the reality, politically or economically.
“We know that the new generation has become more aware of political, economic, and social situations. They can determine their future,” she added.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Abu Daher, from Deir al-Balah, in Gaza, hopes that the elections will be held as planned, because “Palestinians need new representatives who would solve their economic crisis.”
“For 15 years, the unemployment rate has gone up and that pushes thousands of young Palestinians to immigrate and try their luck abroad,” he said, adding, new representatives would hopefully help those people to overcome their ongoing economic crisis.
“Once we have a stable life, we will be able to think about how to deal with Israel and its annexation plans, based on international law,” he explained.
Nevertheless, Abu Daher is betting on the awareness of young Palestinians to take the first step to change the painful reality in Gaza by participating in the elections.
However, Abdul Rahman al-Away, in his 20’s, is not optimistic towards the elections. He believes that neither Hamas nor Fatah will accept the elections’ results, which means that they would return to the military fighting to keep their power on the ground.
“It is important to strategically build on the younger generation that has not experienced infighting and division, to formulate an awareness based on joint action,” Hussam al-Dajani, a Gaza-based analyst, said.
He said, the elections should be based on the principle of participation, not victory, in order to create a new generation that believes in democracy and equality.
For his part, Hani al-Masri, a West Bank-based analyst, said, many obstacles challenge the electoral process. “We should be aware that Israel would ban the elections in East Jerusalem, which will negatively affect the elections’ results,” he said, adding, Palestinians should find alternative solutions for obstacles.
On Friday evening, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree, setting specific dates for holding the legislative and presidential elections, in addition to a vote into the Palestinian National Council.
Under the decree, legislative elections will be held on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and the Palestinian National Council elections on Aug 31.
The last legislative elections held in the Palestinian territories were in the late 2006, when the Hamas movement, now ruler of Gaza, won a majority. Abbas was elected as president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005.– NNN-XINHUA
