Palestinian factions sign “code of honor” in Cairo
Palestinian factions participating in the second round of the national dialogue hosted by Cairo on Tuesday signed a “code of honor” in which they stressed their keenness on holding fair and transparent general elections.
During their meeting in Cairo, the factions, including Fatah and Hamas movements, pledged to fully comply with the provisions of Law No. (1) of 2007 regarding general elections and its amendments by Decree-Law No. (1) for the year 2021 as well as the relevant presidential decrees No. (3) of 2021 with respect to calling for general and presidential elections, the Presidential Decree No. (5) of 2021 with respect to the promotion of public freedoms, and the presidential decree issued on March 1, 2021, regarding the formation of the Election Cases Court.
Delegations of the political Palestinian factions, the National Council, and the Central Elections Committee will convene again on Wednesday to address points related to the democratic Palestinian path.
With the election date approaching, talks are all about a hidden alliance between Hamas and Fatah, led by Muhammad Dahlan, after Arab and Palestinian efforts failed to convince the President of the Authority and Fatah movement, Mahmoud Abbas, to end the disagreement with Muhammad Dahlan and contest the elections with a unified Fatah list.
Some explain this rapprochement to the recent actions in Gaza, including return a number of Dahlan’s aides and leaders to Gaza after a 14-year absence, as well as Dahlan’s announcement of sending a batch of Corona vaccines to this area, which the Palestinian Authority President imposes sanctions on and is besieged by Israel.
Questions arise about the extent of the reality of this rapprochement and the extent of its impact on the “Fatah” movement in the upcoming elections, some Fatah leaders announced that they will fight the election battle with various lists, such as Nasser Al-Qudwa.
A few days ago, the former head of the Preventive Security Service in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shbak, arrived in the Gaza, for the first time from 14 years, according to the Palestinian “Ma’an” agency.
Under the code of honor, Palestinian factions will abide by all regulations, instructions, and decisions issued by the Central Elections Commission regarding the electoral process in its various stages in a manner that achieves integrity and transparency.
They agreed to respect the role of local, Arab and international observers, pledging to cooperate with them in performing their monitoring task.
The factions committed not to exercise any form of pressure, intimidation, treason, blasphemy, violence, or any form of blackmailing against any of the candidates or voters.
They will also be committed to preserving the principle of secret balloting, giving Palestinian voters the right to freely select the electoral list and adhering to the legally-specified election campaigning period.
Palestinian writer and journalist Muhammad Abu Mahdi believes that it is useful for Fatah movement to run in the elections with a list separate from alliances with other parties, considering the movement is the real opposition force facing the policies of exclusivity and exclusion practiced by the President Mahmoud Abbas in Palestinian political life.
Abu Mahadi considered that the strength of the reform movement is due to a political reason based on the difference with the approach in which Abbas leads Fatah since the issue of the Goldstone Report in 2011 until today, in addition to the role of the reform movement in providing aid to the Palestinian people in light of the Israeli sanctions imposed on him and in addition to the sanctions by Abbas.
Abu Mahadi believes that Dahlan and the current party he leads will be the surprise of the upcoming elections, which is a movement that enjoys Palestinian support from a wide range of sectors, the most important of which is the youth and its ability to break the political stalemate that marked the era of Mahmoud Abbas’s rule.
The parliamentary elections are set to be held on 22 May and the presidential elections have been scheduled for 31 July. (MENA)
