On Thursday 31th.Oct.2019, the Press House - Palestine organized a youth dialogue on the Palestinian elections, in the presence of the representatives of the Palestinian factions and media students of media colleges in the Palestinian universities in the Gaza Strip.
The Representative of the Islamic Jihad Khader Habib stressed that the Palestinian election is a national affair, which must be held alongside since the situation is satiable to end the Palestinian division, and get out of the current crisis.
Habib pointed out that the elections should be preceded by a national consensus and a clear road map, so that the 2006 election crisis will not be repeated.
Habib said: "The Islamic Jihad did not participate in the elections since 2006, as it is one of the Oslo Accord results, which harmed the Palestinian people."
Habib added: "We want an elections that get us out of the crisis and do not put us in a new crisis."
Abd Al-Latif al-Qanou, Hamas spokesman, said that youth are the cornerstone of society and the first building block for promoting awareness to hold the elections.
Al- Qanou pointed out that the visit of the Chairman of the Election Commission, Hanna Nasser, to the Gaza Strip, established the first practical step and the start for the arrangement of the Palesinian internal home, stressing that election considered as the first entry to achieve unity, stressing the need to achieve compatibility and partnership with all Palestinians parties
He declared that Hamas is ready to hold the Palestinian elections, whether consecutively or simultaneously, stressing that Hamas approved the elections and declared its readiness to conduct it, in response to President Mahmoud Abbas's call for elections, and in line with the orientation of the factions, and in response to the eight factions’ initiative and at the request of our people and their need to renew legitimacy.
Al-Qanou reiterated Hamas' readiness to receive the President Abbas in the Gaza Strip, in order to hold a national meeting that will be the beginning of the arrangement of the election process.
He stressed that the elections are one of the entrances to the arrangement of the Palestinian internal home, and the establishment of a joint national action, and that the management of Palestinian affairs requires the consent of all Palestinians.
He added: "Hamas will not be a hindrance, and will overcome all obstacles in order to reach the election process."
Al- Qanou continued: "The consensus of the factions, and the election process, is greater than all obstacles," he continued: "We are ready to apply a national meeting with the President Mahmoud Abbas, to agree on the practical steps."
For his part, Mamoun Sweidan, the Representative of the Fatih movement, stressed that his movement's position has been clear for years, calling for elections, as they reflect the will of our people and a necessary national entitlement.
He said: "We want elections with outputs contribute to the reformulation of the Palestinian scene, and overcome the challenges that plague the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause."
He Added: "We want elections with new Palestinian leadership to bear the Palestinian concern, with the principle of consensus and the partnership to hold the national responsibility," stressing that the national unity and reconciliation is a strategic choice for Fatih movement which is irreversible.
He stressed that the right of young people to express their opinion should not be confiscated, noting that youth should have representation in the Legislative Council and trade unions.
Mr. Sweidan stressed that the elections should empower the youth through their active participation, calling on the youth to prepare themselves, develop their concepts and ideas to have a real representation in the Palestinian parliament, in the logic of determining legitimacy.
He said: "We have received the position of Hamas positively, and I hope that the declared position has an actual translation on the ground."
For his part, Talal Abu Zarifa, the member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front, said that the most important element in the coming stage is restoring the national unity, especially as the challenges facing the Palestinian people impose the rebuilding of the Palestinian political system into a parliamentary system governed by institutions.
Abu Zarifa said: "The elections are a constitutional and political entitlement, and those who fail the political dimension of the elections do not want the election to take place."
He added: "We want an elections in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem," with the need to take into account the political dimension, especially as the responsibility of elections is to rebuild the political system.
Abu Zarifa pointed to the need to have a dialogue at the level of leadership and at the level of secretaries-general of the factions, to create the conditions to move a step forward in the subject of the elections.
He continued:” Elections are an issue that must be the solution for unifying the Palestinian situation, which is suffering from the disintegration of the division”
He stressed the need to transform the elections to the formation of a struggle program, which rebuilds the Palestinian institution to carry the Palestinian national project, where the government is based on partnership and unity in a political framework that puts it before its responsibilities.
For his part, Maher Mizher, a member of the the Political Office of the Popular Front, stressed that the success of the elections requires the presence of youth, calling for responding to the initiative of the factions and the president Mahmoud Abbas to determine when the elections will take place, in order to elect a Palestinian leadership capable to hold the Palestinian concern.
Mizher said: "Elections are a constitutional and a popular right, and the coming generations have the right to access the election fund, in addition to creating the climate to stop the assassination and prosecution, with the call for a leadership meeting through which to determine the mechanism of conducting the election process."
He added: "We are facing a range of problems, and we are still living in a state of division despite the welcoming of the elections," calling for a law to organize the election process, where elections are held in accordance with a state of a national consensus.
Mizher also called for a comprehensive leadership meeting in the presence of the President Mahmoud Abbas, to determine the basics on which the election process should take place, calling for the reactivation of the PLO on the principle of partnership and pumping new blood to be the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
The meeting included many questions and discussions by the youth attendees, where the representatives of the factions answered all their queries.
