The Civil Coalition to Monitor Elections: No to postponing the elections, which is a right of the people, not a grant that can be withdrawn

The Civil Coalition to Monitor the Elections: No to postponing the elections, which is a right of the people, not a grant that can be withdrawn

Beth Ham - Ofoq News - The Civil Election Monitoring Coalition followed with great concern the growing voices calling for the postponement of the legislative elections scheduled for the twenty-eighth of next November, and affirmed its categorical rejection of any effort to obstruct this entitlement or postpone it under any pretext.

The coalition said, "Nearly two decades have passed since the last legislative elections, during which an entire generation grew up that did not have the opportunity to choose who would represent them. The experience of 2021, when the elections were canceled after voters registered and lists were nominated, is still fresh in memory, and it has deepened the crisis of trust between the citizen and his institutions. Repeating this scenario will not be a postponement of a date, but rather a new blow to what remains of the legitimacy of the political system."

The facts on the ground say: elections are possible

The Central Elections Commission, which is the body legally competent to manage the electoral process and assess its readiness, periodically announced that it was proceeding steadily towards polling day, and that it had overcome the obstacles it faced, including those related to the Gaza Strip. The committee invited the necessary bids, received offers from companies to produce ballot materials and ballot boxes, and employed its electoral crews in the sector.

Accordingly, any talk about the impossibility of holding elections contradicts what the responsible technical authority announces, and is not based on professional data but rather on political calculations.

The coalition stressed that the decision on technical readiness belongs to the Elections Commission, not to any political party seeking postponement.

The coalition also stressed that holding elections on time is a legal obligation under the presidential decree, and an inherent right of citizens, and no party may decide on behalf of the people when they have the right to exercise their will.

He said that elections are a national necessity in the face of guardianship, in light of Security Council Resolution No. 2803 regarding the Gaza Strip, which approved a transitional administration for the Strip under the supervision of the “Peace Council,” and linked the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza and the opening of a path toward self-determination and the state to achieving reforms in its institutions. Elections have become an urgent national necessity and not a political luxury that can be postponed. Renewed legitimacy through the ballot box is the Palestinian response to any arrangements imposed from abroad, and the way to restore independent national decision-making and reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip under one elected institutions. Any reform that does not pass through the will of voters will remain a formal reform determined by external parties. Therefore, postponing the elections at this moment means leaving the vacuum open for guardianship projects and dedicating the separation of Gaza from the West Bank, instead of the Palestinians having a say in who represents them and manages their affairs.

He also stressed agreement on rules, not results. We appreciate the calls for a national consensus that guarantees respect for the election results, but linking the vote to a prior comprehensive consensus makes it hostage to what has not been achieved throughout the years of division. The guarantee of commitment to the results comes from an electoral charter of honor signed by all forces before polling day, which includes an explicit pledge to accept the results and the peaceful transfer of power, and to resort to the election court in any appeal. Elections are not the opposite of reconciliation, but rather the shortest path.

He stressed that integrity is preserved through local oversight, not through postponement. We condemn the ban on international observers from entering the Gaza Strip and demand pressure to lift this ban, but it does not eliminate the possibility of holding fair elections. Independent local oversight, from civil society institutions, list agents, and journalists, is a basic guarantee that has proven its efficiency in previous Palestinian elections. Civil society organizations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have crews and volunteers capable of covering all polling stations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He also stressed that the occupation has no right to veto our will. The occupation authorities’ refusal to grant permits to the Election Commission crews is evidence that they do not want these elections to be held, which makes adhering to them a patriotic act. The presence of the committee’s crews already working within the sector makes this obstruction surmountable. What is required is to hold the occupation publicly responsible for any obstruction, and to demand that sponsoring countries and mediators intervene immediately, instead of us bearing its consequences through a postponement decision.

He stressed that Jerusalem is at the heart of the electoral battle. The occupation’s obstruction of the participation of Jerusalemites must be confronted by insisting on participation and using alternative voting mechanisms, and turning polling day into a political and popular confrontation in the city, and not be used as an excuse for obstruction, as happened in 2021.

He called on all forces and factions to declare a public commitment to the election date, and the Central Elections Commission to continue informing public opinion of the stages of its readiness, and the international community to put pressure on the occupation authorities not to obstruct the electoral process.

He added that the people who pay the price for their steadfastness every day deserve to choose their leadership themselves. There is no renewal of legitimacy without the ballot box, and there is no true national unity without resorting to the will of the people.