Legislative elections: a right and a necessity

The Palestinian President issued a presidential decree setting the date for the legislative elections on the twenty-eighth of November, which put an end to the doubts of those who questioned the holding of elections that have been absent for many, many years. The last elections were twenty years ago, and since then they have been suspended for many reasons, most notably the occupation and the division, which prevented the holding of elections, affecting Palestinian politics, Palestinian legislation, and vital issues on the one hand, and existential issues on the other. Democracy has been absent all these years, replaced by temporary laws, decrees, and decisions, and there were no representatives and parliament to exercise their assigned role, like the peoples of the world.

The absence of legislative elections in the Palestinian scene has had a profound impact on the disruption of the most important parliamentary legislative institution for the people, and the most important oversight tool over the executive and judicial institutions. In their absence, the scene became incomplete, full of interpretations that are sometimes right and sometimes wrong, which led the Palestinian society into extremely dangerous contradictions, and interpretations of old texts that do not conform to our reality, which has undergone many changes and developments.

Setting the date for the elections puts an end to the doubts of those who question their possibility, and the issuance of the presidential decree means that there is no turning back from holding them. They will be followed by presidential elections at the beginning of next year, and in parallel, elections for the National Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization will be held, so that the democratic scene will be complete in all its pillars based on the people's authority, as they are the source of powers and have the right to choose their representatives.

The important political circumstance and the dangerous crossroads that our national cause is going through, and the occupation's policies aimed at eliminating our people's cause and continuing the war of extermination and displacement, necessitate the revival and renewal of the spirit in all institutions that represent our people, in the hope of overcoming this difficult stage and the dangerous conspiracies being hatched against our people and their cause. This calls for strengthening our internal front through ballot boxes that guarantee everyone's participation, ensure the democratic transfer of power, strengthen national unity instead of fragmentation and continued division, and grant legitimacy to institutions derived from the will of the people, thereby contributing to facing current challenges and defending our people's rights and national constants.

The upcoming elections are an important crossing point for our cause, and they are a necessary pillar and an urgent need at a time when all of Palestine is exposed to a series of dangers, not the least of which is the war of extermination and the policies of settlement and Judaization. Therefore, renewing legitimacy means revitalizing all aspects of work, whether partisan, popular, institutional, or otherwise. This also pushes Palestinian society to mobilize its energies in all fields, but the most dangerous question here is, will the occupation allow elections to be held in Jerusalem? And will it agree to hold them in the West Bank and Gaza? And what are the tools we possess to hold elections despite the occupation and its policies? It is true that the international community supports us in this, but everyone knows the ability of the international community to influence the occupation, so what are the alternatives if the occupation does not agree to hold the elections?