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UN-PALESTINE-ELECTIONS
UN Mideast envoy sees hope of elections in Palestine
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 21, 2019 (BSS/Xinhua) – The UN special coordinator for
the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said Wednesday he saw hope
of elections in Palestine, the first democratic process since 2006.
Mladenov said that in his engagement with senior Palestinian officials and
different factions in recent weeks, he sensed positive attitudes toward
elections.
“I…am encouraged that all sides have moved from their entrenched
positions and made important concessions toward making elections a more
realistic prospect,” he told the Security Council.
“Renewing the legitimacy of all national institutions is important for the
future of the Palestinian people,” he noted.
Mladenov stressed that certain critical elements are required for the
long-overdue elections to be credible.
First, they must be organized across the occupied Palestinian territory —
in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza — in line with the
Palestinian Basic Law, electoral legislation and international best
practices.
If elections are to build unity, they must take place in Gaza and the West
Bank, including East Jerusalem, he said. “How can you heal the devastating
division if people in Gaza are not able to vote for their future as well?”
Currently, Gaza is ruled by Hamas while the West Bank is administered by
the Palestinian Authority.
“Intra-Palestinian division is like a cancer, a cancer eating away at the
aspiration for statehood, peace and the commitment to democracy, rule of law
and human rights,” he said.
Second, both legislative and presidential elections are necessary and
should be held within a clearly identified and reasonable timeframe, he said.
Third, a broad intra-Palestinian agreement must be reached on the
modalities of holding elections, he said.
Elections are not a gift. They are a right. The Palestinian people have a
right to vote and elect their leaders, said Mladenov.
“For too long they have been denied that right and division has set in. A
whole generation’s voice for the future has yet to be heard.”
The United Nations will do all that is necessary to support a successful
Palestinian election process, said Mladenov. Enditem
BSS/XINHUA/FI/ 0952 hrs