InfoAnda - Hamas's election foray may be a turning point

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Read more with google mobile : Hamas's election foray may be a turning point

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinians began the post-Arafat political era in a modest way, voting for municipal councils in 26 West Bank cities and towns. The results of these local elections, held Dec. 23, were mixed and they are not a good guide to the voting in Sunday's scheduled election for president of the Palestinian Authority. Nevertheless, these municipal elections, the first since 1976, may mark an important turning point: the beginning of mainstream political activity on the part of the radical Islamic group Hamas, which is competing for votes as other factions do, even as it continues its war against Israel. This, in turn, could be the tentative beginning of a normalized Palestinian politics, instead of the revolutionary and theologically motivated violence of the intifada. 'This is one step in the process of having Hamas become a legitimate part of Palestinian political life,' said Danny Rubinstein, the Arab analyst for Haaretz, the Israeli daily newspaper. After the death of Yasser Arafat, Rubinstein said, Hamas sees advantages in 'demonstrating the unity of the Palestinian people.' The main winners in the elections so far are really the prominent Palestinian families, clans and tribes that largely control each locality, said Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Ehud Yaari, the Arab analyst for Israel's Channel 2, agreed. 'Municipal elections are conducted on the basis of family or tribe, whatever you want to call it,' Yaari said. 'People vote about local interests. They want to be represented in local councils to protect their neighborhood.' In fact, Shikaki said, neither Fatah nor Hamas wanted to risk much political capital on these local contests, with the presidential and legislative elections still to come. Both groups, he said, 'were reluctant to enter the contest naked and have a real test, so they allowed people to participate as they liked.' Hamas, which had drawn strength from its opposition to the corruption of the Palestinian Authority that marked the last years of Arafat, had done well in closed elections for university councils, trade union groups and nongovernmental organizations. But it was cautious about its entry into general elections. 'It was the first time Hamas has had to participate in a contest at a public level, in which tens of thousands participated,' Shikaki said. Fatah, which Arafat had run, was also worried, having to deal for the first time with a real opposition. So in the end both sides found it preferable simply to spin the results their way. Hamas claimed some important victories, while Fatah said that its loyalists dominated the results. Ultimately, however, the elections themselves, which were only reluctantly agreed to by Arafat, mattered more than the names of the winners and losers. They were notable for their high voter participation - 81 percent of those registered to vote actually voted - and for their general fairness and openness, all of which may be an indication that the Palestinian people are now looking with some hope toward normal politics as the way forward. Shikaki said his polls showed that Palestinians are more hopeful now than they have been at any time in the last four years, which may indirectly benefit Fatah and its presidential candidate, Mahmoud Abbas. The voting, he said, is part of 'a surge of optimism - expectations are very high, and that helps Abu Mazen,' as Abbas is known. Abbas, for his part, has been careful to talk inclusively about Hamas. In his first campaign speech, on Dec. 25, he called for a cease-fire against Israel but also rejected Israeli demands to move against Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 'They told us you have to uproot them,' Abbas said. 'We will not uproot. They told us you have to strike them. We will not strike. They are part of our people, and we will include them.' So the participation of Hamas in these local elections is itself a victory for Fatah and Palestinian politics. Hamas is opposed to the Palestinian Authority, because it was an outgrowth of the Oslo peace negotiations with Israel. Indeed, Hamas has called for a boycott of the presidential elections Sunday, but says it will take part in legislative elections tentatively scheduled for May. This will be the first vote for a Palestinian legislature since 1996. Hamas boycotted that election, too, because the legislature was also an outgrowth of Oslo. So a move from revolutionary fronts and factions to political parties is under way. These municipal elections, however incomplete, are a first step in that long political journey for the Palestinians.

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