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Palestinian Elections - A Time Bomb for Arab Regimes?

(Beirut Daily Star) Shlomo Avineri - * Mahmoud Abbas's election was far from flawless, and the parades of armed men brandishing guns at his rallies were not exactly what democratic norms call for. Yet the Palestinians did elect a leader in a relatively free and competitive election. * For years, Arafat avoided holding elections under the pretense that they could not be held under occupation: but, lo and behold, two months after his demise, an election was held - and with resounding success. * The impact of the Palestinian vote will be watched closely in the Arab world, because what happened is unparalleled in the annals of Arab politics. Indeed, Abbas is now the only Arab leader who came to power in a more or less free election. * One factor at work was that Palestinians have been exposed for the better part of four decades to Israel's liberal democracy - a free press, an independent judiciary, and political pluralism. * The Palestinian elections were seen all over the Arab world on Arab satellite channels. They must have focused people's minds on their own stunted political conditions. If the Palestinians could choose their own leaders, why can't the same happen in Cairo, Damascus, Riyadh, or Algiers? The writer, a former director-general of Israel's Foreign Ministry, is a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2005-01-25 00:00:00
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