Press Release

Released @ 8:00 GMT, 17th June, 1997

PNA Minister for Local Government reiterates possibility that municipal elections may be postponed.

On 14th June 1997, the Minister for Local Government, Dr. Sa’eb Erekat, indicated, in a speech given at the inauguration of an appointed municipal council for Bethlehem, that the municipal elections would be postponed until after the overdue Israeli redeployments in the West Bank. Dr. Erekat said that it would be difficult to convene for municipal elections while 90% of Palestinian West Bank municipalities remain under Israeli security jurisdiction.

Although August 1997 has been earmarked as the month during which municipal elections will take place, this is the second occasion on which Dr. Erekat has intimated his doubt that they would go ahead before the completion of Israeli troop re-deployment from the West Bank.

The Ministry for Local Government has appointed committees to run local councils in the municipalities of the West Bank and Gaza. This move has raised doubts about the expedition with which the municipal elections will be held. Most recent was the appointment of a council in the municipality of Bethlehem. In response to questions about the legitimacy of the appointed councils, Dr. Erekat has stated that “In our appointments we never intervene to impose any person on any community”; in addition, sources from the Ministry of Local Government confirmed that these appointments are temporary until the councils are elected. However some Palestinian opposition groups have expressed their belief that the PNA will not hold the municipal elections because they fear defeat.

The Palestinian Centre would like to emphasise the following:

i. The municipal elections have considerable significance for the internal political situation in the Palestinian territories; as, all political groups have professed an intention to participate, including: national and Islamic groups; those which oppose the Oslo political process and the Oslo Agreements signed between the PLO and Israel; and those who boycotted the general elections in January 1996.

ii. Holding the municipal elections, will strengthen democratic development in the Palestinian territories. The existence of strong democratic institutions in the Palestinian territories, will place the Palestinian people in a stronger position to face the challenges of the occupation.

iii. It is inadmissible to link Israeli redeployment with the holding of the municipal elections; as, not only did the Palestinian general elections take place before full redeployment; but in addition, given the impasse in negotiations between the PLO and the Israeli Government, redeployment may not take place in the foreseeable future.