Seven candidates are officially nominated for the Palestinian Presidential Elections, set to take place on 9 January, 2005. These elections have been long awaited, as well as long overdue, for several reasons that will be further outlined. One of the many problems with this election is the uncertainty that rides along with it. For one: will Jerusalemites be allowed to vote? And if so, how and where? Then, there is the question: how is it possible to hold free and fair elections in the midst of occupation by an outside military force? Will Israel, specifically its Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, honor their pledge from last month that there will be a period of 72 Hours with Israeli soldiers pulling back to allow free passage for voters, monitors, and election workers between and within Palestinian areas? The countdown has begun. All these questions will be answered loudly and clearly in only 3 days’ time.

According to a recent article published by the Associated Press, Josef Friedman wrote that in Jerusalem, “home to the city’s 220,000 Arabs {Palestinians}… only about 5,300 Palestinians will be voting” The reasons for this include threats by Jewish militant settlers, living in the eastern part of the city, to sabotage the elections, as well as Palestinians’ fear of losing their (Jerusalem ID cards) residence permits in their home town. In fact, innuendos by Israeli officials to ethnically cleanse the city of its indigenous inhabitants have increased in recent times, jeopardizing the future status and human rights of the city’s Palestinian residents.

The transition period following the death of President Yasser Arafat has been surprisingly smooth, even more so considering the complicated logistics of staging elections under occupation and with such short notice. This effort, carried out by Palestinian institutions and individuals, as well as help from the international community, especially the UN, deserves much credit.

From an optimistic international point of view these elections will determine the upcoming leadership that will eventually negotiate a final peace deal with Israel. In a sense, however, these elections are merely a consequence of both internal and external pressures.

Internally, these elections are viewed as long overdue by Palestinians, and are seen as a forum for them to voice their opinion on who should lead Palestine for the next four years. Externally these elections are seen as a positive move toward democracy,  that the US and Israel claim was supposedly hampered during the reign of the late President Arafat. In fact, democratic elections were held in 1996, but they were, in practice, prevented since 1999 until now by Israel.

The emerging Palestinian leadership will be the next partner with which the international community will have to deal. There is, however, a negative aspect concerning the call from outside for elections: the US and, in particular, Israel are allegedly supporting these elections, but they actually convey the false image that their “support” is part of a seemingly concentrated effort to bring peace to the region, which requires democracy (Palestinian elections) and curbing Palestinian violence as the two allegedly most important prerequisites.

In a recent article posted by the International Middle-East Media Centre (IMEMC) the, “UN said 52 countries had sent observer delegations with 320 delegates so far for the elections on Sunday and more than 700 international observers would be deployed on the election day.” Not to say that election observers in such a vast quantity are not needed or welcome, but it should not be forgotten that along with monitoring the elections and ensuring transparency and fairness, outside monitors should also be scrutinizing Israel’s role and conduct throughout the elections. To focus solely on the Palestinians is another form of negating the real issue, the root cause of the violence, and the essence of the problem, which Palestinian elections alone will not and cannot solve, namely, the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The seven candidates left in the race for who will become President of the Palestinian National Authority are:

1. Sayyed Hussein Barakeh (Independent Candidate)
2. Dr. Abed Al Halim Al-Ashqar (Independent Candidate)
3. Dr. Abed Al Karim Shbair (Independent Candidate)
4. Tayseer Khaled (Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine)
5. Bassam Al-Salhi (People’s Party of Palestine)
6. Mahmoud Abbas, a.k.a. "Abu Mazen" (FATEH)
7. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi (Independent Candidate)

According to a recent opinion poll by Dr. Nabil Kukali the race for who will be the emerging President of the Palestinian National Authority is between two front runners. Mahmoud Abbas is currently leading the race with 51.4 per cent, followed by Mustafa Barghouthi with 21.1 per cent. Tayseer Khaled and Bassam Al-Salhi lie in third and fourth position, with the former receiving 6.8 and the latter receiving 4.4 per cent.

The new Palestinian president will have a very tough task ahead of him. Perhaps, this task does not primarily lie with him personally delivering to the Palestinian people. It is, rather, to make any upcoming peace deal attractive to Palestinians.