Unlike any another time, several Middle Eastern countries, including Palestine and Israel, are simultaneously gripped with election fever. They all hold the possibility of a much-needed facelift for the region that could usher in a peaceful era.
But this time around, these elections have been marred by generational conflicts, the likes of which have not been seen before in the Middle East. The political stakes are high, certainly in Palestine, Israel and Iraq and even in Saudi Arabia where more than a dozen women and three times as many men were competing for the 12 seats of Jeddah's Chamber of Commerce. This pace-setting turnout is bound to be repeated elsewhere in Saudi Arabia, in its slow march toward democratic rule.
The multi-stage Egyptian election, which holds its last round today, has shown that Egyptians "hanker for choice and change, the very roots of democracy", in the words of the Cairo-based AP correspondent Sally Buzbee.
One result that has raised many eyebrows in the neoconservative establishment in Washington is the unexpected five-fold gains scored by the Muslim Brotherhood. The more seasoned see it as nothing more than a protest vote against the Hosni Mubarak regime, whose standing will be judged by how it handles the upsurge in popularity of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Palestinian experience, or more correctly the travails of the ruling Fatah Party in its first primary in 40 years, underline another significant development. It saw the elimination of several of the ruling party's top officials and the emergence of younger activists, mostly followers of Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian leader of the Martyrs Brigade, who even while in an Israeli jail garnered over 90 percent of the vote.
Although the voting has now been suspended because of some irregularities or chaos in some regions, primarily in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as head of the party, cannot afford to call off the primary elections or resort to naming members of the old guard to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections in late January.
If nothing else, it will open the floodgates to his main rival, Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, which has been gaining support among Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip. Abbas needs to clean his house immediately if he hopes to pursue his goal for a negotiated settlement with Israel.
Another little-discussed worrisome issue for the Palestinians was raised by Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator, in talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other White House officials last week that coincided with International Day in Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
At The Palestine Center in Washington, Erekat bluntly said: "We want the United States to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with making sure elections take place ... and to protect us from any Israeli effort to sabotage the elections with assassination." In fact, he urged the Bush administration "to send as many observers as possible".
This Palestinian concern contrasted sharply with remarks made by Mubarak to a Spanish newspaper last week. He said that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, "of all Israeli politicians, is the only one capable of achieving peace with the Palestinians". He stressed, "I think Sharon is serious in his efforts to achieve peace."
Mubarak's view of Sharon, who is also having his share of electoral worries, is not even reflected in considered Israeli opinion especially after the emergence of Amir Peretz, the new Moroccan-born leader of the Labor Party that was headed by Shimon Peres.
Even the Syrian leaders reportedly view Peretz as "a positive change". An American Jewish weekly described the longtime unionist as "strongly dovish on Palestinian affairs". In an interview, he told Forward magazine: "I want a permanent agreement with the Palestinians. I acknowledge their right to have an independent state."
But whether this overt dovishness meets Palestinian aspirations remains to be seen, especially on key issues such as Occupied Jerusalem and the right of return. Uri Avnery, a long-time Israeli peace activist, might have put his finger on a perplexing situation here.
He wrote: "For years now an abnormal situation has prevailed in Israel and driven social scientists crazy. According to all public opinion polls, most of the [Israeli] public wants peace and is prepared to make almost all the necessary concessions, but in the Knesset this position has hardly been represented at all." The answer might come in March when Israelis go to the polls.
As far as Iraq is concerned, the view, as announced by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the eve of President's Bush major address on the issue, is not very encouraging: "Quitting is not an exit strategy. It would be a formula for putting the American people at still greater risk and an invitation for more terrorist violence."
The results of Iraqi parliamentary elections on December 15 might make the situation clearer.
George S. Hishmeh is An Arab American columnist based in Washington. Acknowledgement to Arab Media Internet Network (AMIN)
Viewpoint: Poll fever grips Middle East
TOOLBAR
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.