From postponing elections to national rescue: Towards a road map to restore the Palestinian initiative

Writer: Jamal Zaqout

The Palestinian crisis can no longer tolerate time management instead of conflict management, nor unilateral decisions that deepen the crisis of legitimacy and keep the political system captive to division, impotence, factional arrangements, and suspicions of inheritance. Postponing the elections, after the experience of 2021, cannot be treated as a temporary measure or a dispute over a new date. It touches on the essence of the national crisis: the absence of binding mechanisms to renew legitimacy, the exclusivity of decision-making, and the decline of the national movement’s ability to take the initiative in the face of an Israeli project aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause and imposing facts on the ground that undermine the possibility of embodying an independent Palestinian state.

Urgent dialogue with a binding timetable

What is required is not another dialogue open to procrastination, nor a verbal consensus that postpones differences to a later date, or gives any party the right to veto and disrupt, or is used only to pass the decision to postpone the elections. Previous national dialogues continued for years without implementing what was agreed upon, which raises a legitimate question: Why do citizens trust that this dialogue will be different?

The Beijing Declaration, which was unanimously agreed upon by the Palestinian forces, does not need to reproduce consensuses, but rather a practical mechanism for its implementation, which begins with the immediate call for a meeting of the interim leadership framework, which should have been held more than two years ago, according to what was stipulated in the declaration issued in Beijing on July 23, 2024. The mission of this meeting is to develop a clear and time-bound road map for national salvation, implement the provisions of the declaration, consolidate the partnership in bearing responsibility, and transfer the leadership from a state of chronic waiting and lack of initiative. To the position of action and influence in the face of the dangers facing the national issue.

The agreement must be based on a principle that does not tolerate interpretation: it is not permissible to take the national decision alone, nor should postponing the elections become a prelude to canceling them or an open extension of the existing reality. The experience of 2021, and what came before it, requires that we not be satisfied with setting a new date, but rather that we put in place practical guarantees that prevent a recurrence of what happened, and give citizens confidence in the seriousness of the electoral process. These guarantees are more important than simply announcing a date.

This requires adhering to the agreed-upon date, addressing the obstacles that prevent holding the elections, most notably the unilateral decision to postpone and advance them, enabling the Central Elections Commission to perform its duties with complete independence, publishing periodic reports on the readiness of the process, and establishing clear legal arrangements to deal with exceptional circumstances, so that the fate of the elections is not left to a unilateral decision or to open political assessments.

A government of national consensus with a comprehensive national mandate

The formation of a national consensus government with a specific executive mandate to manage the affairs of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is one of the basic pillars of the road map. This government should be based on a comprehensive national mandate and a clear agreement between the Palestinian forces, not on bilateral understandings or arrangements imposed from abroad.

It should not be merely an administrative formula for alleviating the crisis, but rather a tool for restoring the unity of decision-making and institutions, creating the conditions for a democratic transition, and confronting the challenges of the occupation. Its priorities are to ensure immediate relief for our people in the Gaza Strip, launch the reconstruction process, unify institutions and public administration in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, strengthen Palestinian steadfastness in the face of settlement, settlement terrorism and ethnic cleansing, protect public freedoms and create a political environment that allows free electoral competition.

The agreement must define the government’s powers in accordance with the statute, the mechanisms for monitoring it, and link its work to a timetable that can be evaluated and accountable. The transitional government is not an alternative to elections, but rather a basic guarantee that they will be held on the scheduled date.

This mandate also gives it a national basis to deal with regional and international parties, and to confront the political requirements and security and administrative obstacles that Israel is trying to impose to hinder relief and reconstruction, unify institutions, and hold elections. Instead of dealing with competing Palestinian centers or a leadership with limited mandate, the external parties will have a responsible national leader based on an inclusive agreement, with the ability to make and implement decisions, and who is accountable to his people.

Renewing legitimacy and rebuilding the political system

The rescue map cannot be limited to the government and elections, while the PLO, its institutions, and national representation frameworks remain outside the reform process. Therefore, the agreement should include the formation of a new preparatory committee for the National Council, which includes the presidency of the Council, the general secretaries of the factions, and prominent independent figures, and includes all political forces without exception.

The committee is responsible for preparing a clear timetable for rebuilding and forming the National Council on the rules of democratic consensus, representation through elections where possible, and transitional consensual arrangements where this is not possible, in a way that guarantees the representation of Palestinians in the homeland and the diaspora, and reconnects the PLO institutions with the requirements of national liberation and renewed legitimacy.

In parallel, the way should be opened for a broader national democratic movement, which includes independent forces and personalities, national competencies, youth, women, and civil society institutions. A democratic Fatah movement, in interaction with various national forces, can contribute to building a balance of pressure that prevents the monopoly of decision-making and restores pluralism within the national movement. The possibility of a coming together of forces seeking to build a broad national list on a common program can also be discussed, allowing the participation of multiple forces and personalities, without transforming the electoral bloc into a closed alignment against any other Palestinian component.

In this context, the importance of the role of Commander Marwan Barghouti and other national figures capable of contributing to building a broad consensus on renewing legitimacy, respecting pluralism, and shifting responsibility is highlighted. What is required is not to reproduce the existing balances, but rather to open a political horizon that allows the Palestinian people to freely choose their representatives and determine their priorities.

National salvation is not achieved simply by gathering the factions around one table, but rather by transforming consensus into binding rules that govern the exercise of authority and decision-making, prevent exclusivity, and ensure that institutions are subject to popular accountability.

From recipient of facts to maker of initiative

The Palestinian issue faces an Israeli project that seeks to impose new political, geographical and demographic realities, while the Palestinian political vacuum keeps the leadership in the position of receiving what is imposed on it, instead of taking the initiative to formulate alternatives and build alliances capable of influence.

Therefore, the road map should be a gateway to restoring the national initiative, not just an internal settlement of the election crisis. A government with a comprehensive national mandate, institutional reconciliation, renewed legitimacy, and unity of national representation together form the basis of a political and diplomatic strategy that interacts with the Arab environment and the international community, and confronts attempts to bypass Palestinian rights or impose selective solutions at the expense of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and national independence.

This requires that the Palestinian agreement be clear in its objectives: ending the occupation, embodying the independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, guaranteeing the rights of refugees in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, rejecting the separation of Gaza and the West Bank, and confronting projects of displacement, annexation, and political liquidation. Unity is not a procedural goal in itself, but rather a condition for restoring the ability to take national action and transform enormous sacrifices into lasting political achievements.

The current moment imposes a transition from managing the crisis to addressing it, from waiting for external initiatives to building an independent Palestinian initiative, and from the consensus of closed elites to a national partnership that derives its legitimacy from the people.

Accordingly, the national dialogue should end with a short-term executive road map, with clear responsibilities and deadlines, that includes the formation of a national consensus government, guarantees for holding presidential and legislative elections, rebuilding the National Council, and mechanisms for follow-up and accountability that prevent a return to point zero.

The real test is not whether the leadership will agree to these principles, but rather whether it will accept subjecting its decision to binding national rules that prevent unilateralism and ensure implementation. Without this, the postponement will continue to be transformed into a disguised cancellation, and the political system will remain unable to regain its legitimacy and initiative. As for transforming the dialogue into an implementable commitment, it could open the way to a national rescue that restores the people’s right to choose their leadership, the national movement’s ability to act, and the Palestinian issue’s status as an issue of national liberation and the right to self-determination, not a file managed by conditions and facts imposed by others.