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Corruption in Palestine: A Self-Enforcing System

(Ma'an News-PA) Tariq Dana - Embezzlement of public funds, misappropriation of resources, and nepotism are an outcome of longstanding corruption embedded in the underlying power structure that governs the Palestinian political system and that were rooted in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) prior to the Oslo process. Kinship and familial ties together with political ties provide the ruling elite with a strategic tool to control constituents and expand the network of supporters by redistributing public resources in order to buy political loyalties. This contributes to the climate of corruption by favoring incompetent loyal political constituents and excluding skillful people on an arbitrary basis. The PA has managed to secure loyalties among constituents largely by offering access to resources for economic survival rather than by persuasion for its political, economic and social programs. In particular, the large PA public sector - which currently employs over 165,000 whose salaries are guaranteed by international aid - has been a vital instrument for creating dependency and securing loyalties. If employees express criticism of PA policies, they are likely to be forced into early retirement, denied salary payments, or arbitrarily removed from their posts. The writer is a senior research fellow at Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies, Birzeit University.
2015-08-21 00:00:00
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