Fayyad and the ‘proxy voting’ theory

We were afraid that the Palestinian leadership would neglect the right of the Palestinian diaspora to choose their representatives in the Palestinian National Council. However, our fears are worsening today as we become concerned that the leadership may even ignore the right of the Palestinians inside their homeland to choose their president and their representatives in the Legislative Council. Statements uttered by the head of the longest caretaker government in the world, Salam Fayyad, indicate that what is going on in the minds of some Palestinian leaders can serve any purpose except the objectives of the Palestinian people, who want a restoration of unity and self-determination and nation-building and return to the homeland. Fayyad depends on the procrastination of Hamas to say it is sufficient for Gaza to participate with candidates, not voters. It is not important whether the candidates are from Gaza or any other country, what it is more important is for the elections to be held and a legitimisation of the power he holds as Prime Minister. The man realises that reconciliation and unity shall necessarily happen on the ruins of his government, and it was said so in the Doha agreement. Consequently, he decided to hinder the reconciliation and promote one-sided elections. It is strange that Fayyad  expressed in previous statements that Fatah also does not want elections. I do not know why he excluded Gaza from the elections while he did not exempt the West Bank as well, as long as both Fatah and Hamas do not want the elections. I do not know why he is using these double standards; I do not know what Fayyad's position will be if Israel refuses to allow elections in occupied Jerusalem. Jerusalem would be excluded, for example, and elections will be held only in the vicinity of his office in Ramallah, on behalf of the Palestinian people in the four parts of the occupied homeland and the diaspora.  If we assume that Israel will block the elections with the participation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad or other groups, will the election be held without them... Will this provide a golden opportunity to find his way to the leadership of the Palestinian people and its representation? What does Fayyad want to say to us? In fact, Ramallah’s silence towards the theory of “proxy voting” launched by Fayyad and promoted by "rapid intervention" writers and consultants that surround him is what concerns us, not what comes out of Fayyad himself. Since the elections of 2006, he proved that he weighed nothing by himself and that the positions were taken seriously enough to reflect the new directions of the Palestinian leadership. We agree with Fayyad that Fatah and Hamas do not share sufficient interest in the reconciliation, and they do not have any benefit from it in the foreseeable future. But, the words of truth turn null and void, if the implications are devoted to a split and its institutionalistion. Then, the performance of the "caretaker" president is more dangerous than Fatah’s hesitation and Hamas’s procrastination. Then, we approach the red lines if we have not already done so. The election in the Palestinian case is not valuable yet, but it gains its value and usefulness if it lead to new blood in the Palestinian political system and the restoration of its unity and assumed in the context of a national project. Otherwise, the election becomes "false scenery " fit for display and presentation on the tables of donors and international institutions; this democratic decoration may be considered as sufficient for the whole Palestinian issue. Does the election cost the price  of  giving up Gaza or Jerusalem, or both? The situation of the Palestinian cause is unfortunate. While Israel bites into the land and the rights and sanctities and the capital and continues the consecration of its  "Jewish" identity, we observe the "enemy brothers" exchanging accusations and affecting regional or international development. We are fed up with  calls for reconciliation and unity. The President of the government, who has not got his seat in the last election despite his huge election campaign, dares to introduce another project that enhances the division and overthrows any glimmer of hope in the restoration of unity. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.