February 1, 2006
DEMOCRATIC DISCIPLINE:
For Hamas, honeymoon's over in a West Bank town (Joshua Mitnick, February 1, 2006, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
But after more than half a year of Hamas rule in Qalqilya, it was Fatah that carried the district's two legislative seats -- a reversal that many residents put down to disappointment with Hamas' performance to date.
Hamas politicians are blaming the losses on voter fraud by Fatah activists, but the fragility of Hamas' new mandate was obvious in a series of interviews in the town this week.
"There is disappointment with Hamas," said Nidal Hanayel, who heads the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) party in Qalqilya. "The public didn't feel any improvement in the town. They didn't make good on their promises." [...]
Mutasem Kanfroi called the parliamentary vote in the city a "correction" for last spring's municipal landslide and predicted the same would happen elsewhere after a period of Hamas rule. "There was a high tide, and now we're returning to normal."
"Hamas is indeed being tested," said Mr. Hanayel, the PFLP leader. "Four years is not a long period," he said of the time until the next parliamentary elections. "So let the people experience and judge."
Now Hamas has to improve the lives of all Palestinians or be rejected, which is why they didn't want to win and it's a good thing they did. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 1, 2006 8:25 AM
If Hamas' performance overall mirrors their efforts in Qalqilya, it will be interesting to see if they try to go the Hugo Chavez route in undermining the Democratic process for the run-up to the next election, while simply getting Jimmy Carter to come in and say everything's on the up and up. A non-moderating, non-responsive to the voters Hamas would almost certainly continue to sponsor attacks that draw Israeli retaliation, but doing that would endear them even more to the Jimmy Carters of the world who would want to validate their continuance in power.
Posted by: John at February 1, 2006 9:43 AMWhat makes them think they're going to get another vote?
Posted by: Sandy P at February 1, 2006 12:36 PMSandy;
I suspect Hamas is likely to take the Arafat approach and liquidate all opposition before the vote so that it goes the way they want. Elections aren't free and democratic, regardless of what OJ thinks, if the party in power can imprison or execute people at whim.
Tell it to Eugene V. Debs.
Posted by: oj at February 1, 2006 12:55 PMAOG, Arafat DIDN'T liquidate all opposition, because he didn't liquidate Hamas. He liquidated his opposition within Fatah.
However, I would not be surprised if Hamas DOES try to liquidate Fatah.
Posted by: Ptah at February 1, 2006 1:29 PMWhich is why Israel will release Barghouti.
Posted by: oj at February 1, 2006 1:39 PM