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	AEI-Open Windows News Youth Participation in the Legislative Elections Information package based on the lecture of Osama Zughbi on 19th of January 2006 The Elections on January 25, 2006   Contents: What is the Palestinian Legislative Council? The electoral system The course of the elections Summary of Brainstorming Why is participating in the elections that important? Facts that hinder the elections Which characteristics must a candidate offer to be elected by you? What is the Palestinian Legislative Council? The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) represents the people of Palestine and is therefore in its function equivalent to the parliament of every other country. It consists of 132 members and has its seat in Ramallah. Its tasks are to create the Palestinian laws and to control the implementation of them. The PLC also controls the President and can stop his decisions if necessary. The ministers are chosen from the PLC. The electoral system The elections will be carried out in 16 constituencies; 5 of them are located in Gaza and 11 in the West Bank. Constituencies in the West Bank are e.g. Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho, Tulkarem and Jenin. Each of the constituencies has a certain number of candidates that has to be elected depending on the density of population. Bethlehem for example elects four candidates while there are six from Jerusalem. In four of the constituencies there is a quota for Christians which means that a certain number of the elected persons must be Christian. For instance two of the four candidates from Bethlehem must be of Christian faith and there must be another two from Jerusalem. There is also a quota in Ramallah, where one candidate must be Christian, just like in Gaza. There are 414 candidates whom the voters can cast their ballot for; most of them are from the parties, but there are also candidates for each region who are taking part independently. 132 will finally enter the PLC. Eleven parties are taking part in the elections, such as Fatah, Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), "The Third Way" and "The National Initiative". The elector will get two sheets of paper. On the first one he has to choose the number of persons who will directly enter the PLC from his constituency. In the Bethlehem area the elector has to choose four candidates. Concerning the quota, it is not necessary to choose exactly two Christians and two Moslems, only in the end the two Moslems and the two Christians with the most votes will enter the PLC. On the second sheet of paper the elector has to choose which party he wants to support. There are eleven parties listed and the elector just marks his favorite. As shown here, the Palestinian electoral system is a mixture of majority voting system and proportional representation. At the example of Bethlehem we see that the four candidates that the majority wants are sent to represent them in the PLC, but the people also vote for parties which will get a number of seats in the PLC according to the percentage of votes they achieved. Comparison between the elections in 1996 and 2006 and additional information:       Elections in 1996 Elections in 2006 Electoral law Based on the Oslo Agreement Based on Oslo Agreement Electoral system Majority voting system Mixture of majority voting system and proportional representation Restrictions No restrictions A party has to win at least 2% of the proportional representation votes to enter the PLC Constituencies 16 constituencies (11 West Bank/ 5 Gaza) 16 constituencies (11 West Bank/ 5 Gaza) Women quota No quota 20% quota for proportional representation candidates Denomination quota 6 Christians, 1 Samaritan 6 Christians quota for majority voting Number of chairs 88 132 (66 majority voting/ 66 proportional representation) Required minimum age of the candidates 30 28 The course of the elections: The election campaigns start about two months before the election and ends two days ahead of the elections, which means on 23rd. From this moment on any other try to influence the voters is illegal. Every person who carries out any action against the elections will be imprisoned immediately and will be brought to trial afterwards. Every person over 18 years of age and holding a Palestinian ID can vote, if he is registered. Voters can only vote in the constituency where they come from. While Palestinians living abroad are not allowed to vote, foreigners who are married to a Palestinian can take part in the elections. Security men can cast their vote between the 21st and the 24th of January 2006 in order to be able to control the course of the election appropriately. The general election is on 25th. After the voter has cast his ballot, he gets an ink mark on his thumb. 48 hours after the end of the election the results will be published. The following paragraphs are a short summary of some brainstorming of the audience during the lecture. Why is participating in the elections that important? First of all the elections are a unique possibility to express your opinion and to influence politics yourself. Elections are one of the main pillars of democracy and it is important to make use of them to support a democratic system. Voting also offers the possibility to renew or to improve the political, but also the economical and social situation. By electing a new party or unknown person you can also give them the chance to get known and to proof their qualities. Through elections the people can also show the other countries abroad their opinion and can even give a feedback to the political parties governing in the last period. If they did a good job, they are reelected, if not, another party will take over. It is worth to take the only political right every citizen has. Facts that hinder the elections in Palestine: The main problem is that Palestine is still not an independent state. As a result of that a strong rule of the law is lacking. The people don't keep with the laws and have no respect of the police. This is why it is very difficult to control it and to implement justice. Also the very strong status of family and religion hinders the election, because people are often not free to elect the way they like, but are influenced and sometimes pressured by family members or their community. Another issue is that sometimes there is a lack of security for the voters. It might be dangerous for them to go to the polling station, because of possible attacks of groups that want to boycott the elections or because they are not carried out with secrecy. Which characteristics must a candidate offer to be elected by you? Firstly, he must be well-educated not only concerning school and university, but also on a political, social and international level. He should have had a successful political career and should have lots of experience. It is also very important that the person is committed in his community and interested in the people's needs. He must hold his promises and remain true to his agenda. For this reason, it would be good to be in close contact to the people, talking to them and taking time for communication. Also after the election the candidate should keep on talking to people and having follow- ups. The candidate should not be too young which means very often that he lacks the necessary experience for this job, but neither be too old in order to not being overextended by his hard job. A candidate should be able to represent himself and his country on a national, but also international level. Therefore a good knowledge of foreign languages, but also rhetorical skills is indispensable. Since a person in his position has also the function of a role model, there should not be lots of negative stories about his past concerning criminality, divorces or illegitimate children. He should be able to work in a team as well as always trying to reach peace and justice. For many it is also important that the candidate is not a fundamentalist, for instance hating Jews, but moderate in his way of thinking.